The Amherst men’s squash team competed in the MCSA National Team Championships Feb. 20-22. The 24th-ranked Lord Jeffs team competed in the Summers Cup (C Division) hosted by Wesleyan.

The tournament opened on Friday with the Jeffs playing against NESCAC rival No. 17 Middlebury. The purple and white fell to the Panthers 8-1 in their second matchup of the season.

On the first court, Noah Browne ’16 captured Amherst’s sole win of the match-up, taking the match 3-1. Further down the lineup, co-captain Alex Southmayd ’15 and Stephen Cacouris ’16 on the eighth and ninth courts added more excitement. Both matches were drawn into five sets before Amherst fell to their Cardinal rivals.

Moving to the consolation round on Saturday, Amherst faced off against Colby that ultimately resulted in a 5-4 loss. On the first court, Browne encountered scant resistance, defeating his opponent in three swift sets.

Amherst swept courts No. 6-8. On court No. 6 co-captain Max Kardon ’15 went back and forth in the first four sets before sealing the win in the fifth set. Teammate Jeremy Van ’17 on court No. 7 dropped the first set before winning the next three straight sets. On the eighth court Southmayd tallied an additional win for the Jeffs in a four set match.

On the final day of competition the Jeffs overcame the 22nd ranked Hobart 6-3. Browne took control of the first court in mere three sets. On the third court Cameron Bahadori ’18 claimed the victory in four sets.

Rounding out the win, Amherst took courts 6-9 in a clean sweep. On court No. 6 Kardon took the set in 3-1. Van from court No. 7 defeated his opponent in 3 straight sets. Southmayd and Cacouris both won 3-1 from the courts No. 8 and No. 9 respectively.

The Lord Jeffs concluded the tournament 23rd in the country, one place better than their 24th seeding going into nationals.
“Though our team came out on the losing end of a lot of close matches throughout the season, we were able to win our final match of the year over a higher ranked team,” senior co-captain Scott DeSantis said.

“As a captain, I was proud of our team camaraderie during the various tournaments throughout the year despite the results,” DeSantis said. “The underclassmen on the team should feel encouraged with our results at nationals as they look ahead to next season.”

While team play has concluded for the year, Browne will head to Dartmouth to play in the CSA Individuals Feb. 27-March 1.