ROCHESTER, N.Y. and LONDON, Ontario — The No. 9 Columbia men's squash team picked up two road victories this weekend, defeating No. 13 Rochester, 7-2, on Saturday, followed by a clean, 9-0, sweep of No. 12 Western University of Ontario on Sunday.
The Lions went with the same lineup for both matches, led by
Harold Castiaux in the No. 1 match. The junior from Belgium rallied from 2-1 down to win games four and five, 11-7, 11-7, and defeat Rochester's Abdelrahman Lasheen on Saturday. He had an easier time of it on Sunday, overpowering Western's Josh Kay, 11-4, 11-1, 11-5. The victories improved Castiaux to 3-2 in his last five matches.
Zach Nam (4) and
Andrew Jung (9) found themselves in the same situation as Castiaux on Saturday. After dropping two of their first three games, they each rallied to win games four and five. Nam took out Omar Zakaria, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5. Jung bested Porras Diaz, 7-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8. Similarly,
Jacob Bulbulia fought off Emilio Carrillo in the No. 6 match, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 12-14, 11-8.
Sunday's match went a lot smoother for the Lions, winning all nine bouts, including six in three games. Castiaux (1),
Chaitanya Shah (2) and
Adam Goad (3) led the charge, while
Sameer Saxena (7),
Ryan Chen (8) and
Andrew Jung (9) were perfect in the bottom of the lineup. Nam battled to win a second five-game decision of the weekend over Griffin Manley, rallying from two games down for the comeback, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-2.
The Columbia men (4-8, 1-5 Ivy) now prepare for CSA Team Nationals, which will take place Feb. 24-26 in Hartford, Connecticut. The sixth-ranked Columbia women (4-6, 3-3 Ivy) will compete at CSA Team Nationals this upcoming weekend, Feb. 17-19, in Philadelphia.
For the latest on the Columbia squash programs, be sure to follow the teams on
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Facebook (Facebook.com/ColumbiaSquash), or by visiting GoColumbiaLions.com.