ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The 16th-ranked Navy squash team won five of the first six matches en route to a 6-3 victory over No. 13 Williams on Sunday at the Halsey Field House International Squash Courts in Annapolis. The win marked the Mids' first win over the Ephs since 1993, snapping a 12-match losing skid. Meeting for just the ninth time in Annapolis, including just the fourth since 1969, it was Navy's first win over Williams at home since Jan. 13, 1968.

Navy scored the early lead with a 3-0 victory at the No. 9 spot by Sam McCartney (Chicago, Ill.). The Navy freshman has played a pivotal role in Navy's success, as he has risen to the challenge of a starting role after the Mids have fallen victim to injuries since returning from the holiday break. McCartney, who earned two wins in the beginning of November and had not seen action in the ladder since, has put together a 3-2 mark this month, including wins in each of the last three matches.

The Mids dropped the second match played of the day, a 3-1 win by John Shuck of Navy's Reed Whitney (Ladue, Mo.), before Navy went on a three-match winning streak. Senior Jim Kacergis (Malvern, Pa.) gave the Mids the lead for good when he rallied from a 3-2 win over Williams senior Chris Wilkinson at the No. 3 position. Kacergis dropped the opening game, 11-3, but fought back to earn a 12-10 win in the second. He took a 2-1 advantage with an 11-5 win in the third, but Wilkinson extended the match with a 12-10 victory in the fourth. Kacergis scored the win by way of an 11-9 in the fifth.

Navy took a 4-1 lead behind wins by sophomore Will Walker (Scarborough, N.Y.) at No. 8 and freshman Josh Hughes (Malvern, Pa.) at No. 2. Walker picked up a 3-2 victory over Williams senior Conor McClintock, while Hughes scored a 3-0 decision over Maryland native, senior Kevin Chen. Though Hughes swept Chen, each of the three games were hard fought - 11-8, 12-10, 13-11 - yet few opponents have been able to rattle the freshman.

With four matches remaining, Navy needed just one more win to clinch the match. While seniors John Hsu (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) and Andrew McGuinness (Merion Station, Pa.) were just about to take the court at the No. 7 and 1 spots, respectively, sophomore Randy Beck (Lafayette Hill, Pa.) was beginning the fifth game against Williams' Galen Squiers at the No. 5 position. Squiers owned a 2-1 advantage in the match when Beck began to rally and tied in the fourth with an 11-5 win. All eyes were on that final game where Beck would secure both a win for himself via an 11-8 score, but also clinched the win for the Mids.

Hsu and McGuinness dropped 3-0 decisions in their respective matches, but classmate Colin Barry (St. Louis, Mo.) would win an important match in what was the final bout of the day. Barry posted a 3-1 win over senior Kai Graham at the No. 4 slot, keeping his own home unbeaten streak intact at 10 matches and improve his overall seaon mark to 15-1.

"In squash, a 6-3 win is more significant than a 5-4 win, so Colin closing out the match with a victory was huge for us as a team," said Navy head coach Craig Dawson.

"There were a number of highlights for us today including an impressive win by Josh Hughes in three games at the No. 2 position. Jim Kacergis has been battling an injury, so for him to come in and fight through some fatigue and win in five was big. And certainly Randy closing out the match early with his win in five games was important. Overall it was just a great day for Navy squash."


Unbeaten at home this season (13-0), Navy has captured wins over a pair of top 15 teams and programs who had long winning streaks over the Mids. In November, Navy scored a 5-4 win over then 10th-ranked Princeton who had won 19 consecutive matches against the Mids and hadn't lost to Navy since 1985.

Navy returns to action next Saturday when its faces sixth-ranked Yale. The Bulldogs have won 30 in a row against the Mids, however, Navy gave Yale a good match in its last trip to Annapolis in 2012.


Navy def. Williams, 6-3
1 - Robert Ruggiero (W) def. Andrew McGuinness (N), 11-8, 11-4, 11-7
2 - Josh Hughes (N) def. Kevin Chen (W), 11-8, 12-10, 13-11
3 - Jim Kacergis (N) def. Chris Wilkinson (W), 3-11, 12-10, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9
4 - Colin Barry (N) def. Kai Graham (W), 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9
5 - Randy Beck (N) def. Galen Squiers (W), 5-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, 11-8
6 - John Shuck (W) def. Reed Whitney (N), 11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 11-9
7 - Varun Sharma (W) def. John Hsu (N), 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
8 - Will Walker (N) def. Conor McClintock (W), 11-4, 7-11, 11-2, 11-7
9 - Sam McCartney (N) def. Chris Wilkinson (W), 11-6, 11-8, 13-11


### Go Navy ###