Ringe thriller: F&M; squeaks by M. Squash

Penn fell short as the Diplomats pulled out the victory in the final match of the evening. It has been a season of many disappointing close losses for Penn's men's squash team. Yesterday's match against Franklin and Marshall was no exception. The Diplomats, who now own an 8-6 record, took a few close matches in order to pull out a win over the Quakers. Penn fell to 2-8 on the season. The final score yesterday, five matches to four, was even closer than that extra-thin margin would indicate. It came down to a final deciding match between the No. 1 players of each team, but the Quakers were unable to hang on for the victory. In the climax of the meet, Penn junior co-captain Peter Withstandley, playing at No. 1, squared off against Arjun Krishnan. In the final game, Withstandley, although two games down, played back from a deficit to a 16-15 lead before dropping the last two points. That summed up the closeness of the match. The Red and Blue headed into the match hoping to maintain their focus and to raise their level of play a notch in preparation for the end of the regular season. Although the loss was an obvious letdown for the players, they kept the match close and displayed plenty of perseverance. The Quakers, as predicted by coach Craig Thorpe-Clark and many of the players, displayed their strength in the bottom portion of their lineup. In a show of its depth, Penn picked up all four of its victories with three-game sweeps in the bottom five of their lineup. Penn's senior co-captain Andrew Hopkins played an impressive match at the No. 5 spot, dropping Shahzeb Zakaria in straight games. Penn junior Vicky Singh was looking ahead after defeating Greg Romero 15-10, 15-13, 15-9. "It's not going to get any easier this season," Singh said. "Harvard and Dartmouth are strong, but we have a good team right now. Our chances are pretty good at nationals and we could surprise Dartmouth." Penn's other victors were freshman Sam Miller at the No. 7 spot and junior Ritesh Tilani at the No. 9 spot. Tilani's victory was particularly lopsided, with his opponent unable to reach double figures in strokes in any of the three games. Penn's remaining efforts, while solid, were not enough to overcome the strong top of the Diplomats lineup. At No. 2, Diplomats senior co-captain Jamshid Pandole notched a win by dropping sophomore Roberto Kriete in three games. Kriete, who has moved up to the second spot in Penn's order from the No. 7 position he played last year, lost a close match that involved several contested strokes. "It was a tight meet," Diplomats coach John Stallings said. "It was well played on both sides, but we were fortunate in a few matches. We'll both be right in the middle of the second division in the team championships." Yesterday's loss, although a jolt to the Quakers, did display the qualities that Thorpe-Clark is looking for in his players. In a display of concentration and determination, Penn sophomore Mukund Khaitan played on two bad ankles, one of which was sprained in practice Tuesday night. He was obviously hobbled in his loss at No. 3 to Shloka Melwani. "I wasn't going to sit out and make all the other players move up," Khaitan said after the match. "This is a building season for us. We need to be a good team, accept the loss and look forward to the next match." In another see-saw match, Penn's Will Ruthrauff lost his first two games in tiebreakers. John Griffin also lost a tiebreaker, going on to lose his match in four games. "Even when you're within a whisker, you can feel like you're a mile away," said Thorpe-Clark, who remained in an upbeat mood after the close loss. "It's a disappointment, but there were lots of good signs. We're looking to peak for the team championships at Yale." The Quakers will have to recover quickly from yesterday's loss. They head into a tough weekend that will pit them against Harvard -- the top team in the country -- and then a Dartmouth squad that will be in their bracket during the playoffs.