HANOVER, N.H. — The sixth-ranked Columbia men's squash team earned its first Ivy League win of the season on Sunday, defeating No. 11 Dartmouth, 7-2, at the Berry Squash Courts.
Columbia (7-4, 1-3 Ivy) jumped out to a 3-0 lead with wins at No. 1 by Velavan Senthilkumar, No. 4 by Harold Castiaux and No. 6 by Chaitanya Shah. Adam Goad swept Christian Shah at the No. 5 to put the Lions on the brink of victory and Callah Hall clinched the match from the No. 2 spot, 3-1 (11-2, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4).
"As a whole, the men did really well to play smart and close out their matches as quickly as they could," Columbia interim head coach Joanne Schickerling said. "Coming off a tough match yesterday and being on the road is not easy to do, but they were diligent with their game plans."
Senior Justin Ghaeli closed out the match in style, battling back from two games down to roll off his last three games and defeat David Rubin, 6-11, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8. The win improved Ghaeli to 7-2 on the season in scoring matches and 9-2 overall. First-year Ryan Chen nearly pulled off a similar comeback, rallying from a two-game hole to force a fifth game at the No. 8. Ultimately, he was edged, 11-9, in game five.
"I thought Justin and Ryan showed incredible toughness in their matches," Schickerling added.
Senior James Wyatt added to the team victory, bumping his dual record up to 5-4 with a four-game win from the No. 3 slot.
Columbia returns home on Friday to host No. 1 Penn (13-0, 3-0 Ivy). The match from SL Green StreetSquash Center begins at 4 p.m. ET.
#6 Columbia 7 - #11 Dartmouth 2
(1)
Velavan Senthilkumar (COL) def. James Bell (DART): 3-1 (11-8, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7)
(2)
Callan Hall (COL) def. Sam Supattapone (DART): 3-1 (11-2, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4)
(3)
James Wyatt (COL) def. Jack Bell (DART): 3-1 (11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9)
(4)
Harold Castiaux (COL) def. William Aube (DART): 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-7)
(5)
Adam Goad (COL) def. Christian Shah (DART): 3-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-6)
(6)
Chaitanya Shah (COL) def. Tucker Martino (DART): 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-9)
(7) Lucan White (DART) def.
Rutvik Rau (COL): 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 12-10)
(8) Quintin Campbell (DART) def.
Ryan Chen (COL): 3-2 (13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 5-11, 11-9)
(9) Justin Ghaeli (COL) def. David Rubin (DART): 3-2 (6-11, 5-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-8)
(10)
Zach Nam (COL) def. Chris Zachary (DART): 3-0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-9)
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 8, 5, 7, 2, 3, 9
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