No. 8 Virginia Edged 5-4 at No. 3 Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ – The No. 8 Virginia men’s squash team (1-4) fell 5-4 against No. 3 Princeton (1-0) on Saturday (Nov. 20) at the Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J.

The Cavaliers picked up wins at the top three positions on the ladder as well as a win at six.

Junior Omar El Torkey won his match at two in three games, downing Daelum Mawji 11-9, 11-5, 14-12. Sophomore Myles McIntyre also closed out a three-game victory 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 against Duncan Joyce at six. Sophomore Taha Dinana returned to the win column with an 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4 win against Karim Elbarbary.

Junior Aly Hussein closed out the match with a five-game battle against Youssef Ibrahim 11-9, 11-1, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8. Ibrahim is currently ranked No. 17 in the world.

FROM HEAD COACH MARK ALLEN
“The trend for this team right now is upward and forward. And you could really see that today in the way our guys competed against Princeton, a seasoned squad who are currently ranked #3 in the nation. From the bottom of the order to the very top, we fought hard and got locked in mentally for long stretches. Unfortunately, the Tigers outplayed us narrowly in some crucial moments. But I certainly came away pleased with what I saw and my expectations are high going into Sunday’s crucial showdown against Cornell. In what was a really great team performance today, there were several outstanding individual efforts as well. Aly Hussein notched the biggest win of his career over the #17 player in the world, Yussef Ibrahim. Taha Dinana and Omar El Torkey toughed out huge wins in the top three as well. And Myles McIntyre put in his best showing in the orange and blue with a dominant performance at the #6 spot against Duncan Joyce. Every player on this squad proved something today and it feels great to be rolling into the final match of the weekend with that kind of momentum behind us.”

NOTES

• This was the season-opener for the Tigers
• Aly Hussein, Omar El Torkey and Myles McIntyre all improved to 4-1 this season

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia closes out its weekend road trip by taking on No. 9 Cornell on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 11 a.m. The match will be played at the Penn Squash Center in Philadelphia

#3 Princeton 5, #8 Virginia 4

1 | Aly Hussein (M_UVA) def. Youssef Ibrahim (PRIN) 11-9, 11-1, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8
2 | Omar El Torkey (M_UVA) def. Daelum Mawji (PRIN) 11-9, 11-5, 14-12
3 | Taha Dinana (M_UVA) def. Karim Elbarbary (PRIN) 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-4
4 | Thomas Rosini (PRIN) def. Cullen Little (M_UVA) 11-9, 11-6, 13-11
5 | Cole Becker (PRIN) def. Tyler Mackesy (M_UVA) 11-4, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3
6 | Myles McIntyre (M_UVA) def. Duncan Joyce (PRIN) 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
7 | Hao-Chen Cheng (PRIN) def. CJ Baldini (M_UVA) 11-5, 11-5, 9-11, 11-2
8 | Maaz Khatri (PRIN) def. Will Holey (M_UVA) 11-4, 12-10, 11-3
9 | Alastair Cho (PRIN) def. Drew Barr (M_UVA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6
Exh. Ahmed Wael (PRIN) def. Teddy Durfee (M_UVA) 11-6, 11-3, 11-4