Squash Turns In Solid Performance at ISAs

Members of the Harvard men’s and women’s squash teams both made solid showings last weekend at the Intercollegiate Squash Championships hosted by Princeton. Harvard sent five men and six women to the individual tournament, which is the final competition of the year.

Men

The most impressive showings for the men came from freshman Mike Blumberg and sophomore James Bullock.

Blumberg, who entered the tournament with the only undefeated personal record for the Crimson, won the consolation bracket over Yale No. 1 Anshul Manchanda, 9-4, 9-2, 7-9, 9-7. Manchanda had lost to No. 3 Will Evans, who was the eventual tournament runner-up.

“I wasn’t expecting to be undefeated, especially considering the people in the intercollegiates,” Blumberg said. “It wasn’t something that was pressuring me.”

Blumberg lost to No. 1 Bernardo Samper, the tournament champion, in the main draw in the round of 16, 9-1, 9-3, 9-5. Having to face Samper so early in the bracket was unlucky for the freshman, who solidified his importance to the team when he managed Harvard’s only two wins against No. 1 Trinity over the course of the season.

“[Samper] showed how strong he was,” Blumberg said. “The first two games he was playing very solidly and it took a while for me to get going. The third game was a lot closer, but it’ll take a lot to be able to beat him.”

Bullock, seeded fourth in the tournament, advanced the furthest in the main draw for the Harvard men, losing in the quarterfinals to defending national champion and No. 5 seed David Yik of Princeton in four games, 5-9, 9-0, 10-8, 9-0.

“He came out really strong and also he had home court advantage, knowing the court much better than I,” Bullock said. “He was just the better player on that given day.”

Losing to Yik was particularly frustrating for Bullock, who had defeated the Princeton No. 2 earlier in the season.

“While I am a bit disappointed because I think I could have gotten further in the tournament, it’s been a good season, so I have to satisfied with that,” Bullock said.

Both Blumberg and Bullock should be among the top ten players in the nation after the final rankings are set.

Yik proved to be a insurmountable obstacle for the Crimson all tournament, as he also defeated sophomore Ziggy Whitman 9-5, 9-4, 10-8 in the first round.

Harvard co-captain David Barry lost in the first round to Evans 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 to close out his collegiate career.

The final Crimson entry, junior Dylan Patterson, lost in the first round to Princeton No. 3 Peter Kelly in a five-game battle, 7-9, 9-3, 6-9, 9-1, 9-3.

“Though we didn’t end up placing very well as a whole, it was still a good weekend with good matches,” Barry said. “We had a good time.”

With strong performances by the younger members of Harvard’s squad, the Crimson proved that it will remain competitive next season.

Women

The Crimson women competed well during the tournament, but five of the six fell to Trinity opponents to end their season.

Trinity beat Harvard in both the regular season and the Howe Cup national team championship finals for the Crimson’s only two losses of the season.

“We were sad that we lost to the girls from Trinity since we really wanted to prove ourselves against them,” co-captain Colby Hall said. “But we all had fun with the people from all the teams, which is what the weekend was really about for us.”

Placing highest for the Crimson in the main draw was Harvard’s No. 1 player, sophomore Louisa Hall. Ranked No. 3 in the nation, the younger Hall lost in the semifinals to No. 2 Lynn Leong of Trinity in straight games, 9-4, 9-1, 9-2. Freshman No. 7 Lindsey Wilkins also succumbed to Leong, losing in the quarterfinals 9-2, 9-1, 9-5.

“[Leong]’s hard to play because she doesn’t play like many of the other college players in that she has a different style of game and hits a lot of drops from all over the court,” Hall said. “It was hard to adjust to that.”

To reach the semis, Hall defeated No. 6 Olga Puidgemont Sola, who plays No. 1 for Cornell, 9-7, 9-5, 9-6. This meeting marked the first victory for Hall over Puidgemont Sola, who won their regular season match-up in December.

“It was a good hurdle for me to get over in terms of confidence,” Hall said.

Senior Carlin Wing had a strong weekend as well, ending her collegiate career by reaching the finals of the consolation bracket. Wing lost to No. 8 Pam Saunders of Trinity, 3-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-5, 9-4. Saunders had already defeated Colby Hall in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket 9-2, 9-7, 9-1.

Feeling sick the entire weekend, Wing showed impressive resilience to stay competitive in the draining five-game match.

“To get herself psyched up for that was a big feat and very brave of her,” Colby Hall said. “It really could have gone either way, and I’m sure in other circumstances she would have won.”

Hall lost in the round of 16 of the main draw to the eventual tournament winner, No. 1 Trinity sophomore Amina Helal, 9-1, 9-0, 9-1.

Hall’s co-captain, No. 5 Margaret Elias, lost in the quarters 9-7, 9-0, 9-2 to No. 4 Runa Reta, who is Penn’s No. 1.

“Everyone did well,” Louisa Hall said. “There were some tough losses, but everyone had a good showing in general.”

The outlook for next season is promising for the women as well, as their other freshman entry, Hillary Thorndike, reached the semifinals of the second draw.