M. Squash loses thriller to F

It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. When the Penn men's squash team looked over its schedule at the beginning of the year, the Quakers probably marked a win next to yesterday's match against Franklin & Marshall. Sure, the Diplomats would be tough, but they certainly wouldn't beat the Quakers. Well, the Quakers better break out their whiteout and change that 'W' to an 'L.' In a highly spirited match, the Diplomats stunned Penn 6-3, leaving the Quakers shaking their heads. "It's hard to tell what it will do about our confidence," Penn coach Ned Edwards said. "This wasn't a match that we were expecting to lose. This will make them match tougher because this is a hard one to lose. So, we play twice this weekend and hopefully these guys won't squander any chances to finish these guys off." "This match was good to get us back to match competition," freshman Summeet Bhullar said after his 3-2 win. "It should be a good preparation, however, it might turn out to be a pretty harsh preparation." And harsh it was. In Penn's first five competitions this year, the Quakers went 6-1 in individual matches that went to five games. But yesterday, that clutch play was nowhere to be seen. Penn went an astonishing 1-5 in five-game matches. "The fifth game is where the competition is sharpest and that's what the pinnacle of competition is in squash," Edwards said. "So I think that our guys didn't meet that challenge." The afternoon started evenly. In the match second seeds, heralded F&M; freshman Jess Berline crushed Quaker sophomore Andrew Braff, who was a little under the weather. But No. 6 freshman Ian Childs came up huge for Penn with a 3-0 victory. After Bhullar barely survived his match, people's heads started turning. "Well, I won," Bhullar said. "I don't think I played the best I every have. It shouldn't have been five games. It should have been three." Then controversy arose. With Penn No. 8 sophomore Sanjay Nayar tied 2-2 and in the midst of a heated fifth game, some bumping arose and questionable calls were made. Nayar lost the match and didn't seem happy. "I don't want to talk about it," Nayar said. "What's done is done. I don't think it is sportsmanlike to talk about it. That's only one point out of 100." "Those things always happen and a match doesn't hinge on that," Edwards said. "It wasn't a big deal and I don't think it was the determinant in the match." That set the tone for the rest of the day. Down 4-3 with two to play, the Quakers still had a chance. When No. 4 junior Vayu Garware won an intense fourth game to tie his match, 2-2, and with superstar No.1 junior Steve Scharff dominating his match 2-0, there was hope for the Red and Blue. But Garware fell apart in the fifth game and after Scharff heard the Quakers were done, he subsequently lost his next three games. "In the case of Garware, he's a more talented player," Edwards said. "He's probably just a little bit unclear how to win points and string together a rhythm." · The Quakers have a busy schedule ahead of the them. Saturday they travel to Princeton to play a highly-competitive Williams team. Sunday they host Trinity (Ringe Courts, 11:00 a.m.). Penn lost to both schools last year and must come up with dominating victories to prove to the country the Quakers belong among the elite teams.