No. 8 Virginia Falls 7-2 Against No. 2 Harvard

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 8 Virginia men’s squash team (3-5) suffered a 7-2 loss against No. 2 Harvard (2-0) on Saturday (Dec. 2) at the McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville, Va.

Juniors Charles Braff and Maxwell Velazquez earned the points for the Cavaliers.

Braff cruised to an 11-4, 11-2, 11-2 win at eight to put the Cavaliers on the board.

Velazquez battled through five games for his victory at six. Velazquez won the first game 11-5 against Neel Joshi, but Joshi battled back with an 11-9 win to tie it 1-1. Velazquez won the third 11-7 before Joshi tied it again with an 11-8 victory in the fourth game. Velazquez closed out the match with an 11-4 win to earn UVA its second point.

Sophomore JP Tew also battled to five games at the top position while facing David Coastales. Costales won the opener 11-9, but Tew battled to take the second and third by 12-10 scores. Costales won the final two games to take the victory.

The Crimson only won two matches by 3-0 scores.

FROM ASSISTANT COACH GRANT WHITE

“Typically, when you come out on the wrong end of 7-2 result, you have to work pretty hard to find positive things to say. But today’s loss to Harvard is a different story. Every player put everything into the match and really performed at a high level—quite a few playing their best squash of the season thus far. We have had guys playing 3–sometimes 4–spots up the ladder the past few weeks due to injuries. And in today’s match, the hard-won rewards of that trial-by-fire experience, were apparent. Charles Braff was a force at #8 and the way he is coming into form out there is emblematic of the development we are seeing at every position in our team order. Harvard is a superb program—ranked #2 right now but looking to take their fifth consecutive national title—and I admired the way our men went toe to toe with them without blinking. The challenges we have come through this semester have turned a young squad into a seasoned one and I think we are all looking forward to what we have ahead, beginning with another top-ten match up against Dartmouth on our home courts tomorrow.”

MATCH NOTES

• Maxwell Velazquez improved to 6-2 this season
• Velazquez’s six wins lead the team
• JP Tew also took No. 1 Penn’s top player to five games before being edged by him earlier this season

#2 Harvard 7, #8 Virginia 2

1 | David Costales (HAR) def. JP Tew (VA) 11-9, 10-12, 10-12, 11-1, 11-4
2 | Denis Gilevskiy (HAR) def. Krishna Mishra (VA) 11-2, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5
3 | Tate Harms (HAR) def. Myles McIntyre (VA) 14-12, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5
4 | Omar Azzam (HAR) def. Evan Hajek (VA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
5 | Jacob Lin (HAR) def. CJ Baldini (VA) 9-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-6
6 | Maxwell Velazquez (VA) def. Neel Joshi (HAR) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4
7 | Liam Rotzoll (HAR) def. Drew Barr (VA) 11-7, 11-7, 11-6
8 | Charles Braff (VA) def. Marcus Lee (HAR) 11-4, 11-2, 11-2
9 | Ishant Shah (HAR) def. Patrick Keller (VA) 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, 11-4