M. Squash downed

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. At the start of the season, the men's squash team was looking forward to finishing among the top eight teams in the nation. Months later, that goal seems a distant memory, as the Quakers finished 16th overall -- last place in the second division of the ISA Team Championships, held at Harvard. While the Quakers started the season with every reason to expect a good finish, circumstances seemed to conspire against them all year long. First, there was the loss of the team's Nos. 2 and 3, Shams Mistry and Chuck Braff, who both quit. The Red and Blue then had to deal with the suspension of their Nos. 6 and 7, freshmen Roberto Kriete and Mukund Khaitan, for their failure to attend two matches. As if the loss of four of the top nine was not enough, No. 1 Jamie White remains unable to play, awaiting medical clearance after collapsing on the court two weeks ago. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 -- all gone. One might think it could not possibly get worse for the Red and Blue. This weekend it did. Senior Carter Caldwell was unable to join the team for Friday's match due to academic commitments and captain Andrew Hopkins, originally the team's No. 5, was battling illness and did not play in Saturday or Sunday's matches. And so a team that started off the season with 14 able and willing players wound up with less than the required nine for the team championships and was forced to forfeit the ninth spot in each match. Adding to the Quakers' already numerous problems was the fact that, due to the loss of multiple players, their ranking in the tournament was changed from a coveted No. 9 seed to No. 13. "The coach's committee deliberated a great deal about our ranking and they knew we were missing a substantial number of players," outgoing Quakers coach Jim Masland said. "Their reasoning in changing our ranking was they wanted to ensure the integrity of the draw and the tournament." Therefore, though the Red and Blue were originally supposed to meet a weak Colby squad, they faced a stronger Navy team instead. The Navy squad was no stranger to the Quakers. In fact, the Red and Blue met Navy a mere three weeks ago at Penn. But, what a difference three weeks makes. While the Quakers were victorious by a score of 5-4 in their original meeting, this weekend the Midshipmen overpowered the weakened Red and Blue 8-1. "Navy was a team we beat in the regular season," sophomore Alexander Hurst said. "This time around we lost to them 8-1 and it is extremely frustrating to lose that badly to an opponent you beat only three weeks ago." In the loss, only sophomore Peter Withstandley, playing at No. 1, recorded a win. The Quakers then went on to lose to 15th seed Wesleyan and 16th seed Hobart by identical 6-3 scores. Against Wesleyan, Withstandley once again emerged victorious, joined by freshmen Ritish Telani and John Griffin. Versus Hobart, it was the three freshmen playing for Penn -- Telani, Griffin and Matt Juraska -- who were the only Quakers to find themselves in the win column. Although the Red and Blue did not achieve the success they had hoped for, the weekend was not a total loss. "I was very pleased with the entire team's effort," Masland said. "I thought they played hard and everybody gave 100 percent and played with determination." Furthermore, while this weekend's results were disastrous for this year's Quakers squad, they bode well for the future. Next year the Quakers will return their entire team, minus senior Caldwell. And if this weekend is any indication, this year's freshmen are ready, and able, to step into the lineup. "This weekend was a challenge and we did the best job that we could do," Hurst said. "It wasn't an optimal performance, but it also wasn't optimal conditions. "Sometimes, that's the way the cookie crumbles."