Powerhouses Tank Hopes for Title

It played with heart and determination, but the No. 4 Harvard men’s squash team could not earn redemption this weekend as the team finished a solid fourth place at the CSA Nationals at the Murr Center.

In the quarterfinals, the Crimson beat No. 5 Western Ontario, 6-3. But in the semifinals, Harvard could not beat longtime foe No. 1 Trinity and suffered a loss of 9-0. In its last match of the tournament, Harvard lost to Ivy League rival Yale, 6-3.

“We knew we were going to have a really tough competition going in,” freshman J. Reed Endresen said. “But I think the weekend went well.”

In its first match of the tournament, the Crimson earned a victory against Western Ontario. Harvard quickly took the lead in the first round, when No. 3 freshman Richard Hill, No. 6 Endresen, and No. 9 sophomore Alastair Smith all quickly beat their Mustang Opponents, 3-0. Two more victories came from freshman Eliot Buchanan—who played the fifth seed—and junior Niko Hrdy, who played the fourth seed. No. 1 sophomore Colin West beat his opponent with ease, only ceding one point the entire match.

The next day of competition against Trinity would prove to be far more of a challenge for Harvard. The Crimson fell, 9-0, but a few matches were close and could have had very different outcomes. Fourth seeded Buchanan took a 2-1 lead on Bantam opponent freshman Andres Vargas Heredia, but Buchanan could not hold on and lost the match, 3-2. The eighth-ranked Smith also took his match to four games. Down 0-2, Smith was able to rally back in the third game but was defeated in the fourth game.

“Even though we lost 9-0 we all played with heart and there matches that could have gone either way,” Endresen said.

Harvard played Trinity on Feb. 6 and lost 9-0. The Crimson was coming into this weekend seeking revenge and looking to break the Bantams’ 180- game winning streak. Unfortunately, the Trinity dynasty could not be broken by any team as it went onto to take its tenth straight CSA Title.

The most devastating loss of the weekend came against Yale, who Harvard saw as its most evenly matched opponent.

“In all I think it went really well, but if I wanted one match to come out differently, it would have been Yale,” junior captain Verdi DiSesa said.

The three wins came from West, Buchanan, and Hrdy, who all defeated their Bulldog opponents 3-0. In the closest contest of the day, Endresen had match ball in the fifth game against Yale senior Moshe Sarfaty, but Sarfaty rallied back three points and won the match.

Throughout all three competitions, the Crimson kept its composure, focus and drive.

“I think everyone showed a lot of heart and gave everything they had for every match,” DiSesa said.

One problem that has plagued Harvard in recent weeks is the strenuous schedule. Over the past two weeks the Crimson has played some of its most important and competitive matches within in a few days of each other. Last weekend, Harvard played Ivy League rivals Penn and Princeton in back-to-back matches. The Crimson has had very little time to recuperate before the national championships.

Another problem that has hurt the team is lack of a veteran core. The Crimson graduated seven seniors and the squad is very young this season.

“We may have been lacking experience,” Endresen said. “But that the great thing is we aren’t graduating anyone this year.”

Harvard is set to play in the CSA Individual Championships in Annapolis from Feb. 29-March 3, the team’s last competition of the season.

“I would say that this season has been a huge success,” DiSesa said. “I think we exceeded expectations and did a lot better than people thought we would.”

—Staff writer Alison E. Schumer can be reached at schumer@fas.harvard.edu.