Sports Briefs: Friday, January 21, 2000

M. Squash drops a tough one at the Naval Academy "It's a huge loss for us," Penn junior Will Ruthrauff said. "We were really disappointed, and we just want to be able to get back and get some wins so this loss doesn't hold us back." Penn junior co-captain Peter Withstandley provided a clutch performance in the No. 1 spot. Last year's team Most Valuable Player recorded a solid 3-1 victory against Navy's Andrew Cook Red and Blue senior Andrew Hopkins, Withstandley's fellow captain, was similarly impressive, logging a 3-0 domination of Midshipmen No. 4 Andrew Crawford. The captains weren't alone in emerging victorious for the Quakers. Freshman Sam Miller got a win at the No. 5 spot, and junior Ritesh Tilani battled hard and was able to come away with a 3-2 decision over Navy's Clint Lawler in seventh position. Navy preserved its margin of victory with two back-and-forth wins at the third and sixth positions. Penn's No. 3 John Griffin refused to yield to Navy's Brian Ko without a fight, stretching the match to a full five games. Midshipman Stephen Huber got the best of No. 6 Ruthrauff in three straight games, but each one came right down to the wire. Huber won 15-13, 17-15, 15-12. "I think I'm playing well considering that that I just got back," said Ruthrauff, who recently returned from a semester-long outdoors program. The win bettered the Midshipmen record to 5-4 on the season and allowed Navy to exact revenge for Penn's 5-4 victory in last year's meeting between these two teams. The Quakers regained the services of Roberto Kriete and Griffin for the match but are still without Jamie White. Penn plays again at Amherst at 11 a.m. tomorrow. -- Will Ulrich