The Middlebury College men's squash team captured the Summers Cup (C flight) at the recent Team Championships hosted by Yale. Middlebury defeated Denison 8-1, George Washington 6-3 and Amherst 5-4 to win the title. The Panthers end the season with a school-record 20 wins, against just seven losses. In just its third season as a varsity sport, the Panthers end the season ranked 17th nationally among 63 teams in all divisions. Rookies Jay Donlan and Spencer Hurst finished the weekend with 3-0 marks.
In the finals of Team Nationals vs. Amherst, Middlebury started out strong by going up 2-1 after the first round of matches, with a win for junior Brian Cady at #3, a loss for senior Eliot Jia at #6, and a win from junior Will Piekos at #9. Piekos' 3-0 at #9 was notable as he'd lost to his opponent earlier in the season.
With matches #2, #5 and #8 going on next, #2 first-year player Jay Dolan won quickly, but #5 senior Micah Wood and #8 sophomore Addi DiSesa were defeated. With six matches played, the score was tied at 3-3 with matches #1, #4 and #7 remaining.
Things were not looking good for Middlebury when #1 sophomore Valentin Quan went down 2-0 in his best-of-five, and #7 Addi DiSesa trailed 2-0 in his match. Meanwhile, #4 rookie Spencer Hurst was headed into his fifth and final game, which he was able to win by a score of 11-6.
Middlebury now led 4-3, but trailed 2-0 in the final two matches. DiSesa battled back to win his third and fourth games and tie his match at 2-2. He reached two match points in his final game, but lost 12-10 in the fifth game tie-breaker, and the overall score as the match was knotted at 4-4.
#1 Valentin Quan silenced the Amherst fans as he came from behind to win his match 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 to give Middlebury the 5-4 victory. Quan ended a big season for the Panthers, going 22-5 overall including a 3-0 mark at the NESCAC Tourney
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Middlebury def. Amherst 5-4
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February 21
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1. MIDD - Valentin Quan def. B. Warner
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(9), (6), 8, 9, 6
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2. MIDD - Jay Dolan def. C. Loesch-Quinton
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6, (8), 5, 5
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3. MIDD - Brian Cady def. S. Severson
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8, 7, 11
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4. MIDD - Spencer Hurst def. A. Kriete
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(9), 8, 5, (4), 6
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5. AMH - K. Cecala def. Micah Wood
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3-0
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6. AMH - T. Rapisarda def. Eliot Jia
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3-0
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7. AMH - M. Arnold def. Addi DiSesa
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8, 9, (10), (9), 10
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8. AMH - T. Lavine def. Simon Keyes
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(10), 9, 7, (9), 5
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9. MIDD - Will Piekos def. L. Banta
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8, 5, 9
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Middlebury def. George Washington 6-3
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February 20
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1. GW - O. Sobhy def. Valentin Quan
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6, (8), 4, 9
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2. MIDD - Jay Dolan def. J. Calderon
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9, 7, 9
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3. MIDD - Brian Cady def. M. Grossman
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10, 8, 4
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4. MIDD - Spencer Hurst def. P. Haynes
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6, 3, 9
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5. MIDD - Micah Wood def. M. Nair
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911), 6, 3, 9
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6. MIDD - Eliot Jia def. B. Feldman
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7, 5, 6
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7. GW - A. Pistel def. Addi DiSesa
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7, 9, 9
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8. MIDD - Simon Keyes def. S. Ehrlich
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7, 7, (3), 4
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9. GW - M. Bower def. Will Piekos
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7, 11, 8
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Middlebury def. Denison 8-1
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February 19
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1. MIDD - Valentin Quan def. J. Diwan
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7, 7, 7
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2. MIDD - Jay Dolan def. M. Prentice
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4, 9, 6
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3. MIDD - Brian Cady def. R. Ongaro
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9, 7, 4
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4. MIDD - Spencer Hurst def. W. Lawson
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8, 10, (10), 3
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5. MIDD - Micah Wood def. S. Carr
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9, 5, 6
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6. MIDD - Eliot Jia def. N. Hobrath
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(6), 2, 9, (6), 6
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7. MIDD - Addi DiSesa def. M. Krasnow
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7, 8, 1
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8. HAM - H. Robb def. Simon Keyes
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(9), 4, 2, 8
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9. MIDD - Will Piekos def. G. Merrill
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7, (7), 9, 7
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