POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (December 4, 2016) — Vincent Mencotti notched a pair of wins, as the Vassar College men's squash team (4-4) went 0-2, falling 7-2 to Bard College and 8-1 to Tufts University at Kenyon Hall on Sunday.
"I think both matches went far better than expected," coach David Ames said. "We played two teams that are ranked higher than us. By the rankings of each individual player, they're ranked higher than us. I think we did far better than expected, and I'm very pleased."
Against Bard, Vassar found success at the top of the lineup. Mencotti battled back from a 1-0 deficit to take down Rhys Norstrom in four sets, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4, at the one.
"Tough opponents, probably the toughest people we've played on the schedule so far, but everyone showed out," Mencotti said. "No blowouts."
The No. 2 spot saw even more of a nail-biter, as Viraj Nadkarni fought Aya Maeda to a five-set victory, winning the first two sets, 11-5, 11-5, falling in the following two, 11-6, 11-8, and clinching the next, 11-8.
Two other matches between the Brewers and Raptors went to five sets. At the seven, Alex Riccio won two of the first three before falling in the final two to Satwik Sriknishnan, 5-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5. Then at the nine, Lucas Fifer dropped the first two to Theo Webb, 11-6, 11-5, before taking the next pair, 11-4, 11-8. The deciding set ended with an 11-8 win for Webb.
In Vassar's afternoon match against Tufts, Mencotti claimed the Brewers' lone win, taking down Alan Litman in straight sets, 12-10, 11-4, 11-3.
Nadkarni battled at the two, but fell to Brett Raskopf in four sets, 11-2, 11-13, 11-5, 11-9. No. 8 Isaac Stuart and No. 9 Lucas Fifer also forced their opponents to fight for every point. Stuart lost to Matt Memmo, 11-4, 11-3, 11-6, while Fifer fell to Siddhartha Jejurkar, 11-5, 11-7, 11-3.
"I saw them really stepping up against frequently really superior players, and not rolling over and keeping the pressure on and not making it easy for them," Ames said. "They were not playing like the players they were playing against were far more experienced, which was great."
During the day's competition between the Jumbos and Raptors, Tufts won 8-1.
Vassar returns to play on Saturday, Jan. 21, facing host Haverford College at noon and Swarthmore College at 3:30 in Haverford, PA.
—VASSAR—
