Men's and Women's Squash Have Victorious Weekend

Cam Chottiner ’20
Staff Writer 
With both teams rolling, men’s and women’s squash looked to keep up their red hot, yet typical, play with busy weeks facing Yale at home on Wednesday, Penn on the road on Saturday, and Williams back home just one day later on Sunday. With so many matches and so little time, it would surprise no one if fatigue began to set in for the Bantam squads. Nonetheless, both teams got started on Wednesday, squaring on with Ivy League rivals: the Yale Bulldogs.
The men got off to a blazing start as they took down Yale by a score of 7-2. Junior Thoboki Mohohlo, sophomore Ziad Sakr, first-year Aly Tolba, and sophomore Aryaman Adik, all defeated their opponents without dropping a game. Senior Tom De Mulder, though not winning in straight games, had arguably the most exciting match of the day. After dropping the first two games in close fashion, Tom roared back in front of the home crowd, winning the next three games in what proved to be a thrilling victory. Meanwhile, the women took an even more convincing victory as they defeated the Bulldogs by a score of 8-1. Junior Salma Alam El Din and first-year Nadiia Usenko were the lone Bantams that did not drop a single game. On Saturday, both the men and women traveled to Philadelphia to take Penn.
The men faced an incredibly tough test as Penn was ranked #1 in the nation at the time of the match. Nonetheless, the Bantams showed that the two time defending champions were not to be taken lightly as they defeated the Quakers by a score of 6-3. Once again, Ziad Sakr won in straight games, with junior Andrew Lee and first-year Will Curtis joining him as they swept their opponents. The women, once again, were even more dominant, defeating Penn by a score of 8-1. Very similar to what was done last week, seven of the eight Bantams that were victorious did so in straight games, an incredible feat against a strong Ivy League opponent.
On Sunday, the “Senior Day” celebration for the Bantams, the men defeated Williams College by a score of 9-0. Though the Ephs are no match for the Bantams, it is still remarkable that six of the nine Bantams won without dropping a game. On the other side, the women defeated Williams as well, this time by a score of 8-1. Much like the men, six of the eight victorious Bantams won without dropping a game. In crazy fashion, Nadiia Usenko dropped only three points during the entire match. The women return to action on February 6th at Harvard, while the men have the NESCAC Championships at Middlebury this weekend!