LANCASTER, Pa. — The sixth-ranked Columbia men's squash team rallied back to defeat No. 16 Franklin and Marshall, 6-3, on the road Sunday afternoon.
After the Diplomats (1-4) took two of the opening three matches, Columbia (3-0) fought back to win all three matches of the second round. With a 4-2 advantage, Columbia's
Gonzalo de la Mora clinched the victory with a 3-0 sweep at the No. 9.
"Give a lot of credit to Franklin & Marshall, they came out strong and really challenged our guys," Columbia interim head coach
Joanne Schickerling said. "We started off a little slow but the guys really stepped up. Jacob was able to pull out a huge win for us in the opening round and I'm happy for Gonzalo to clinch the match for us in his first collegiate competition."
Jacob Bulbulia stormed back from dropping the first two games to win in five at the No. 4 position. Bulbulia won games three and four by a score of 11-8 and powered through for a 15-13 victory in game five to get the Lions on the scoreboard.
Ryan Chen,
Justin Ghaeli and
Aditya Kankariya swept the second round of matches to give the Lions momentum. Chen and Kankariya took 3-0 decisions in their contests, while Ghaeli responded from dropping the first game 11-6 to roll off the next three: 11-4, 11-4, 12-10.
"It was really key to handle those three matches," Schickerling added. "The team really came together and responded well."
Needing one more match to clinch the victory,
Gonzalo de la Mora came through. He got past Marco DiFillippo, 11-8, in game one, seized control with a 12-10 win in game two and put the match away in three, 11-7.
Already with the match in hand, the Lions got a sixth point at the No. 6 position from
Zach Nam. The South Korean quickly went up 2-0 before falling 13-11 in game three. However, the game three loss didn't deter Nam, who rolled through game four, 11-4.
In total, two Lions made their collegiate debuts.
Gabriel Yun fought hard at the No. 8 but fell in four games.
Columbia takes the rest of the month off from competition and returns to action on December 3, hosting Drexel at the SL Green StreetSquash Center at 4 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on
Twitter and
Instagram (@CULionsSquash), on
Facebook (Facebook.com/ColumbiaSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.
#6 Columbia 6, #16 Franklin & Marshall 3
(1) Petr Nohel (FM) def. Harold Castiaux (COL): 3-2 (6-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-9, 11-9)
(2) Aryan Parekh (FM) def. Adam Goad (COL): 3-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-9)
(3) Ryan Chen (COL) def. Thomas Fournaris (FM): 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9)
(4) Jacob Bulbulia (COL) def. Teddy Eill (FM): 3-2 (8-11, 3-11, 11-8, 11-8, 15-13)
(5) Justin Ghaeli (COL) def. Jordan Sprecher (FM): 3-1 (6-11, 11-4, 11-4, 12-10)
(6) Zach Nam (COL) def. Michael Tallentire (FM): 3-1 (11-9, 11-2, 11-13, 11-4)
(7) Aditya Kankariya (COL) def. Allen Tompkins (FM): 3-0 (11-7, 11-7, 12-10)
(8) Flavio Hinostroza (FM) def. Gabriel Yun (COL): 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6)
(9) Gonzalo de la Mora (COL) def. Marco DiFillippo (FM): 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-7)
