The men’s squash team rounded out its season last weekend, on Feb. 26-28, when it travelled to New Haven, Conn., for the CSA National Championships. Ranked 15th in the CSA’s final regular season rankings, the Panthers qualified to play in the second division at nationals for the first time since the program made back-to-back appearances in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.
The team had a tough start to the weekend when it lost its top player Andrew Jung ’16 due to illness. On Friday, the Panthers faced tenth-ranked Cornell. They lost 9-0 in the quarterfinal match, but played close games throughout the lineup.
Coach Mark Lewis said the team learned of Jung’s illness a week-and-a-half before nationals.
“As you might suspect everyone was upset first for Andrew and for the team,” Coach Lewis said. “He has been a great number one, captain and teammate, and to see his final opportunity to play for Middlebury taken away was difficult. I can only imagine how difficult it was for him.”
On Saturday, Feb. 27, the Panthers faced Navy for the second time this season in a consolation semifinal game. When the teams first met, Middlebury won a 5-4 squeaker in a match played at the Yale Round Robin. This time when the teams met at the Yale courts, the Panthers dropped the match 9-0. While
Middlebury’s lineup had to be shifted up because of Jung’s absence, the Panthers still played the Midshipmen closely in their individual matches.
David Cromwell ’16 and Wyatt French ’17 had to play in the top two slots in the rematch after both won in the second and third slots during the regular season meeting. Cromwell lost in straight sets but gave Navy’s top player, sophomore Jack Herold, three tough games including a 13-11 second set. French’s match went to five games in the second slot, winning the second and fourth sets 11-6 and 11-5, respectively. French dropped the first and fifth sets 11-8, but almost pulled off a third set victory before falling 11-9. Will Kurth ’18 also took his match to five games in the seventh slot and even led two sets to one before losing the fourth and fifth sets 11-9 and 11-5, respectively.
On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Panthers closed what has been an excellent season with a storybook ending.
In the 15th-16th place game, the Panthers faced a rematch with a talented Brown team who the Panthers defeated 5-4 at home during J-term.
Again, the Panthers faced an uphill battle as each individual was slotted up. But that was not going to stop Middlebury.
“I suspect that on a subconscious level Andrew’s absence in our line-up versus Brown might have served as extra motivation for everyone to step up their games,” Lewis speculated.
ahead when he came from behind Brown’s Foster Hoff in the sixth slot. Krant showed resolve in the comeback effort, as he exchanged 12-10 games with Hoff before dropping the third game 14-12. Fitness paid off for Krant as he followed a win in the fourth game with a 12-10 win in the decisive match.
“It was the longest match I’ve ever played in terms of minutes,” Krant said, “and the only time every game except for one was more than 11 points. But it was our senior’s last match so everyone was willing to work as hard as possible.”
French outlasted Jake Blasberg in the second slot, winning close games in straight sets, while Cadienhead and Kurth won in four sets on the third and seventh spots on the ladder. Cadienhead, who played most of last season in the second slot for the Panthers, played well in his return to the top three.
“I think Cadienhead’s mindset for his match was sheer determination,” Lewis said. “He’s a gifted athlete who can open up the court sometimes for his opponent. I suggested that he keep his game simple and use straight hitting to limit his opponent’s options before using lots of angles. Although it is difficult to stick with this plan, he did and it paid off.”
With the teams tied 4-4, Cromwell took the court against Brown sophomore Thomas Blecher, who had defeated Jung in straight sets at the top of the ladder earlier in the season. Cromwell faced a tough task, but with the final match of the season in the balance, he proved up to the challenge.
“Cromwell was simply impressive in his match,” Lewis said. “He slowed the pace of the game down, kept the tempo in his wheelhouse and took away the shooting skills of Blecher.”
Cromwell won a close first set 11-9 before Blecher took the second one 117. Cromwell proceeded to shut Blecher down with an 11-3 win in the third game, but he could not carry this momentum over into the fourth set as Blecher forced a fifth winner-take-all set.
“David knew exactly what he needed to do,” Lewis said when asked about what they talked about between sets. “All I said was, ‘you know what you need to do...keep doing it.’ I felt that it was important to keep things really simple and obvious so his mind wouldn’t be cluttered and so he could concentrate only on things that were effective.”
Characteristic of the season he has had, Cromwell persevered and won a close 12-10 game in thrilling fashion, securing the victory for the Panthers and a 15th place in the season’s final standings — the program’s best finish since 2012.
Lewis reflected that the biggest takeaway in his first season at the helm was getting to know his players.
“This takes time but I feel like everyone, myself included, made significant strides in this area.”
Cromwell and French will be back in action next weekend, March 12-13, when they head to Chelsea Piers in Stamford, Conn., for the CSA Individual Championships.
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