Feb. 11, 2007

Results

ITHACA, N.Y. - The 13th-ranked Cornell squash team nipped No. 10 Navy, 5-4, while the Mids bounced back with an 8-1 victory over 16th-ranked Tufts Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y. With its win over Tufts, Navy reached the 18-win plateau for the fourth-consecutive year, marking a first in program history.

Cornell clipped the Midshipmen, winning three of its five matches in three games, while taking the remaining two in four games. Freshman Ben Mantica (Binghamton, N.Y.) dropped his first two games against Cornell's Chris Vernick, 9-1 and 9-4, before picking up a 9-6 win in the third to push a fourth game. Vernick topped Mantica 9-4 in the fourth game to claim the No. 6 point. Senior Dan Hellier (Modesto, Calif.) dropped a heartbreaker to Ian Holton at the No. 8 position. Holton picked up a 10-8 win in the opener before Hellier knotted the match with a 9-3 victory in the second game. Holton went on to win the next two games, 9-5 and 9-3, to earn the win for the Big Red.

Sophomore Alastair Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) was one of four players who earned a pair of wins on the afternoon. He posted a 9-2, 9-7, 9-6 win over Cornell's Ted Hill at the No. 3 spot, while moving up to No. 2 against Tufts where he turned in a 9-5, 9-1, 9-7 win over Chris Delaney.

Junior Jeff Sawin (Haverford, Pa.) earned a 9-4, 9-0, 9-2 win against Cornell's Andrew McReynolds before taking John Subranni of Tufts to task with a 9-1, 9-0, 9-4 victory.

Second-year standout Christopher Zipf (Gladwyne, Pa.) pushed his winning streak to seven matches by defeating Cornell's Omar Mangalji, 10-8, 9-4, 9-7, Tufts' Dan Karlin, 8-10, 9-7, 9-4, 9-3.

Junior Brian Hamilton (Lake Forest, Ill.) was the final double winner on Saturday, picking off Alex Wolff of Cornell, 10-8, 9-4, 9-4, and Tuft's Max Dalury, 3-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-4.

Six of the nine matches against Tufts went into extra games, including a five-gamer at the No. 4 spot where Michael Beautyman Jr (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) handed Kris Leetavorn a 9-3, 9-7, 0-9, 4-9, 9-2 setback.

Hellier also picked up a five-game win at the No. 7 position after falling behind 2-1. Hellier defeated Scott Leighton, 9-6, 7-9, 6-9, 9-4, 9-4.

The Mid will be back in action Sunday when they cap off their trip to New York with an 11:00 am matchup against Hamilton College in Hamilton, N.Y.