No. 8 Virginia Drops Conference Contest at No. 6 Drexel

PHILADELPHIA– The No. 8 Virginia men’s squash team (2-4, 2-1 MASC) suffered a 7-2 defeat at No. 6 Drexel (3-2, 1-0 MASC) at the Kline & Specter Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

Patrick Keller earned the first point for the Cavaliers. After winning the first two games 11-9 and 14-12 at position nine, he dropped the second two 11-0 and 11-2. In the fifth game, Keller pulled out a 16-14 victory.

JP Tew, playing at two, dominated his first two games, 11-4 and 11-5, but was locked in a battle in his third game, winning it 17-15 to earn the Cavaliers’ second point.

It was the Cavaliers’ first conference loss since falling 6-3 at Drexel on Jan. 22, 2022 during the 2021-22 season.

FROM HEAD COACH MARK ALLEN

“A shout out to our sophomores, JP and Pat, for picking up our two wins today. Pat’s epic 16-14 win in the fifth game was one he won’t ever forget, and JP did very well to pull out a 3-0 win off the back of yesterday’s five-game match.

“The team will get a well-earned rest for a few days and by the time we have our homestand against MIT, Harvard and Dartmouth on Dec. 1-3, we should have a couple of key players back to fitness and available for selection. When you play these three-match weekends, having a deep squad to draw upon helps so much. Patrick’s win at No. 9 today just goes to show how deep this team is. It’s full of quality players from position one down to position 14.

“And as I keep saying, the season is a long one, and while I know the guys hate losing, I hope they realize that as individuals, I see each of them moving forward and becoming better and better squash players with each match played. We just have to keep doing the hard work and keep our spirits up.”

UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers are off next weekend before hosting No. 16 MIT on Friday, Dec. 1, in their home opener
• Virginia will also entertain No. 2 Harvard on Saturday, Dec. 2 and No. 10 Dartmouth on Sunday, Dec. 3, in their final matches of the calendar year

Drexel 7, Virginia 2

1 | Nico Serna (DRX) def. Taha Dinana (VA) 11-9, 11-9, 12-10
2 |  JP Tew (VA) def. Haris Qasim (DRX) 11-4, 11-5, 17-15
3 | Youssef Bastawy (DRX) def. Krishna Mishra (VA) 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4
4 | Fritiof Jacobsson (DRX) def. Evan Hajek (VA) 11-2, 11-3, 11-0
5 | Jose Lopez (DRX) def. CJ Baldini (VA) 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3
6 | Yuri Pelbart (DRX) def. Maxwell Velazquez (VA) 11-7, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5
7 | Guido Lindner (DRX) def. Drew Barr (VA) 11-4, 6-11, 11-4, 11-7
8 | Dima Dumitru (DRX) def. Charles Braff (VA) 6-11, 11-1, 11-5, 11-9
9 | Patrick Keller (VA) def. Shomari Wiltshire (DRX) 11-9, 14-12, 0-11, 2-11, 16-14