CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 9 Virginia men’s squash team (9-8) suffered a 5-4 defeat against No. 7 Cornell (9-6) on Sunday (Feb. 18) at the McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville, Va.
The match was tied 4-4, with Cornell pulling out a five-game win at position six to clinch the victory.
The Cavaliers fell into an early 3-0 hole but wins from freshman Arhan Chandra, and junior Max Velazquez made it a 3-2 contest.
After the Big Red added another win at position one, sophomore JP Tew tallied an 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 win at position two to make it 4-3. Junior CJ Baldini tied the match with an 11-9, 11-8, 11-2 win at nine.
Junior Petr Nohel faced Rohan Iver in the final match. Iver won the first game 11-6, but Nohel countered with an 11-9 win in the second. Iver again went ahead with an 11-6 win in the third, but Nohel came back again with an 11-3 win in the fourth. Iver took the fifth game 11-6 to secure the win.
FROM ASSISTANT COACH GRANT WHITE
“Our rivalry with Cornell has been a truly fierce one going all the way back to our first varsity season. Between regular-season and championship play, we have probably faced the big red ten times and the margin of victory has always been razor thin; forget about matches and even games won, we are talking five or six points separating the winner from the loser. Our guys showed a tremendous amount of grit to pull even after a slow start and we really believed we were going to come away on the winning side of yet another 5-4 contest. There was a palpable energy here on our home courts and we just about reached out and grabbed the whole thing. Petr fought his heart out for us and I could not be more proud of him for the way he fought but you have to give a tremendous amount of credit to his opponent, Rohan Iyer, who played very skilled and composed squash to outlast us. With a good stretch of time ahead of us before the National Team Championships, we have the opportunity to improve in a few places. And as much as the loss hurts, it will be motivation for us to put in the work and find our form for a final run to close out the season up in Philadelphia.”
UP NEXT
- The 2024 CSA National Collegiate Team Championships are being held Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 29-March 3, at the Arlen Specter Center in Philadelphia, Pa.