The Middlebury men's squash team was edged by #16 Virginia on Saturday by a 5-4 score in a match played inside Harvard's Murr Center. The 21st-ranked Panthers (5-7) have nearly two weeks off before returning to the court on Friday, February 9 when they play at #14 Navy beginning at 5:00 p.m.
In Saturday's match, the Cavaliers (8-6) jumped out to a 2-1 lead with victories at #3 and #9 sandwiched around a four-game victory from Middlebury's John Epley at #6 over Killian Burbrosky (9-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8).
Jacob Ellen drew the Panthers to even at 2-2 with an 11-2, 11-2, 11-4 win over Toby Hansford in the second spot. A four-game victory at #5 gave Virginia a 3-2 advantage in the back-and-forth match, but Thomas Wolpow leveled the match at 3-3 via a five game win in the eighth spot over David Brenman (9-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9).
The Cavaliers once again took the lead with a three-game win at #7, but William Cembalest made it 4-4 with an 11-7, 12-14, 11-7, 11-4 victory against Mason Blake in the top spot.
In the last match remaining on the courts, Virginia earned the narrow team win thanks to a four-game decision at #4.