Complete Results

PRINCETON, N.J. - Navy senior team captain Andrew McGuinness (Merion Station, Pa.) won five straight matches, including a four-gamer over Trinity's Affeeq Ismail on Sunday afternoon to win the Molloy Division at the 2015 College Squash Association Individual Championship played at Princeton University.

The championship is split into two divisions - the Pool Division features the nation's top 32 players, while the Molloy Division was made up of the next 48 players.

Navy entered its top three players on the ladder - McGuinness, freshman Josh Hughes (Malvern, Pa.) and senior Jim Kacergis (Malvern, Pa.) - with McGuinness playing in each of the four years and Kacergis the last three years.

McGuinness, one of three finalists for this year's Skillman Award, came into the tournament ranked 35th nationally and just missed the cut for the Pool Division. After receiving an opening round bye on Friday, he scored a 3-0 win over Princeton's Michael LeBlanc.

Saturday's action began with McGuinness facing Omar Allaudin, who plays for a Trinity program that claimed its 15th CSA Team Championship just a week ago. Allaudin jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but McGuinness clawed his way back into the match with an 11-9 win in the third and an 11-7 victory in the fourth to force a fifth game. McGuinness was able to seal the victory and advance with an 11-8 win in the fifth.

Riding the momentum from his win over Allaudin, McGuinness closed out they day by scoring a 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 victory over Amherst's Noah Browne to advance to Sunday's semifinals.

McGuinness built a 2-0 lead in his match against Drexel's Ibrahim Bakir, but Bakir stole the third game, 14-12. The Navy senior, however, would not be denied his chance at the title as McGuinness closed out the match in the fourth, 11-4.

Meanwhile, for the third time in his five matches at the championship, McGuinness found himself down in the match after dropping the first game to Ismail in the finals, 11-2. The future Navy surface warfare officer battled back to even the match with an 11-4 win in the second and gutted out a 12-10 victory in the third to take a 2-1 lead. It was the momentum McGuinness needed to cruise to an 11-2 victory in the fourth and claim the title in his final match as a collegiate player.

"What a way to finish his career," said Navy head coach Craig Dawson. "I'm really happy for Andrew that he not only was able to finish his season on a high note, but end his career by winning an individual championship."

Kacergis, who was ranked 63rd, produced a 3-0 sweep of Princeton Sam Ezratty in the opener and dealt 34th-ranked William Mohr of Rochester a 3-0 loss in the second round. However, Kacergis bowed out of the tournament in the round of 16 following a 3-1 loss to Bakir whom met McGuinness in the semis.

Hughes, who received an opening-round bye, lost in three games to Allaudin in the round of 32, but came back to post a hard-fought 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-9 victory over LeBlanc in the consolation bracket. Hughes dropped out of the tournament following a five-game loss to Penn's

Andrew McGuinness (#35)
bye
def. Michael LeBlanc (#62, Princeton), 14-12, 11-8, 11-4
def. Omar Allaudin (#51, Trinity), 7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8
def. Noah Browne (#54, Amherst), 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-8
def. Ibrahim Bakir (#50, Drexel), 11-4, 11-7, 12-14, 11-4
def. Affeeq Ismail (#45, Trinity), 2-11, 11-4, 12-10, 11-2

Josh Hughes (#46)
bye
lost to Omar Allaudin (#51, Trinity), 11-5, 11-5, 12-10
def. Michael LeBlanc (#62, Princeton), 11-5, 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-9
lost to Anders Larson (#43, Penn), 9-11, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9

Jim Kacergis (#63)
def. Sam Ezratty (#65, Princeton), 11-8, 11-3, 11-9
def. William Mohr (#34, Rochester), 11-1, 11-9, 11-5
lost to Ibrahim Bakir (#50, Drexel), 11-4, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5

### Go Navy ###