Crimson Sneaks Past Big Green

Coming off a series of wins, including a clean sweep of No. 14 Brown and an impressive 8-1 victory against No. 10 Williams, the Harvard men’s squash team (3-0, 2-0 Ivy League) has been close to untouchable this season.

But last night against Dartmouth (4-1, 0-1 Ivy League) the Crimson had to fight tooth and nail to pull out a 5-4 win over the Big Green.

“In the college squash world, the teams are getting better. Dartmouth and Cornell, these are the teams that ordinarily we would beat even in weaker years,” head coach Satinder Bajwa said. “Now if we’re slightly weaker they come right back at us. We were fortunate to win today.”

Despite a few close and disappointing losses, Harvard had a number wins throughout the evening. Undoutedly the most impressive came from No. 1 junior Colin West as he shutout Dartmouth No. 1 Ted Newhouse, 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

“Colin is playing unbelievably well,” sophomore Zander Auerbach said. “It’s almost frustrating how easy he makes the game look.”

While West displayed composure and confidence, Newhouse seemed resigned to failure from the opening points. The czar of the court, West ran Newhouse around in circles and seemed to have a simple answer to whatever shot Newhouse hit at him.

His domination is nothing new though, in the three matches that West has played this season he has won 91 points and only dropped 2.

Senior captain Verdi DiSesa had a much more competitive match earlier in the evening finishing off Dartmouth No. 2 Nick Sisodia in four games, 9-6 9-7 6-9 9-7.

“Our No.2, Verdi DiSesa, played a beautiful match,” Bajwa said. “Everything that was happening on the court was positive, and I was very pleased by the level of play and results that I saw.”

DiSesa’s patience helped pull him over the top in a match that had rallies of 40 and 50 and points that lasted for minutes.

“I thought that [DiSesa’s] match was incredible. After he lost the third, I was a bit nervous, but he really came back strong and overwhelmed his opponent in the end,” Auerbach said. “He fought point after point and his composure really helped him endure in the end.”

Down 1-5 in the fourth game, DiSesa refused to let the scoreboard intimidate him. Relying on his endurance and experience, he dug himself out of the deficit and decisively finished off his opponent.

Another crucial match in securing the win for Harvard was freshman Will Ahmed’s 3-9, 9-6, 10-8, 9-2 victory.

“Individually the no. 9, Will Ahmed, played at a great level today,” Bajwa said. “Last time he lost in five against Dartmouth in a scrimmage. This time he won a tough four gamer. In the last month he has really shown that he knows how to play his match.”

“I felt that I wasn’t playing my best,” Ahmed added. “I knew that we had to win, and I knew that I had to step up my level to help my team out.”

Ahmed rallied back from a loss in the first game with tight wins in the second and third games, proving crucial for his overall win.

“My opponent was playing well," Ahmed said. "I was starting to feel really tired by the third game. I told myself that if I lost the third game, I would lose the match and if I won the third game, I would win the match."

Overall Bajwa was pleased with his team’s performance in the tightly contested match.

“Winning this match 5-4, with the level of play from the teams closer, means that our team is developing a lot of character,” Bajwa said. "That character is going to take us through when it really matters."