Title Hopes Crushed After Hard Losses

With only three juniors and no seniors on this season’s roster, the No. 4 Harvard men’s squash team knew like it was in for an uphill battle.

Despite the squad’s youth, the Crimson managed to finish third in the Ivy League behind Princeton, who went 6-0 in conference play, and Yale.

“I thought it was a fantastic season,” junior captain Verdi DiSesa said. “We worked hard and played well even though we were hurt by losing last year’s class. We did better than most people thought we would.”

Harvard started off its season with four consecutive wins, three of which came against Ivy rivals Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell.

When Harvard returned to the courts in the spring semester, the tables had turned, as long-time rival No. 1 Trinity handed the Crimson a dismal 9-0 loss.

The Crimson was able to get back on track when it faced conference opponent Penn, notching a 6-3 victory and upping its league record to 4-0.

After the squad’s undefeated streak in its Ivy matchups, the Crimson hoped to be in contention to win the league title.

But Harvard failed to maintain its momentum and fell in its last two league games. Princeton gave the Crimson its first conference defeat, sweeping the squad, 9-0, and knocking Harvard out of the running for the title.

The Crimson met Yale three days later to battle it out for the second-place spot in the Ancient Eight and the third seed in the CSA National Team Championships.

But Harvard couldn’t handle the pressure and yielded the match to the Bulldogs, falling 7-2.

“In all I think [our season] went really well, but if I wanted one match to come out differently, it would have been Yale,” DiSesa said.

Hoping for a chance at redemption, the Crimson headed to the CSA National Team Championships.

Harvard started the tournament impressively, crushing Western Ontario in the first round with a score of 6-3.

But history repeated itself when the Crimson faced No. 1 Trinity for the second time, as Harvard was swept 9-0 once again.

The Crimson played Yale for third place in the final round and lost, 6-3, leaving Harvard fourth overall.

Although the Crimson suffered a disappointing end of the season, a few Harvard players were rewarded with individual success in the CSA Individual Championships.

Sophomore Colin West earned a spot on the CSA All-American Team for his efforts, while freshman Richard Hill took home the Malloy Cup for his victories in the ‘B’ bracket.

“In this situation, [Hill] had a lot of pressure to do well,” West said. “He played very well and stepped it up.”

The Crimson’s youth was certainly a factor in the squad’s struggles toward the end of the season.

But Harvard will be returning the full­­—and more experienced—lineup next season.

Under the leadership of returning captain DiSesa, Harvard will look forward to greater success next season.

“We are not graduating a single player,” West said. “We are a team without change, except for recruits. All of our guys are going to be training in the off-season so we will much stronger next season.”

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