Players and coaches, past and present, came together in Annapolis over the weekend to celebrate 75 years of Navy squash. The two-day gathering kicked off on Saturday afternoon with the current squash team opening the 2023-24 campaign against seventh-ranked Virginia (1-0). The Mids (0-1) came up short against the Cavaliers, dropping a 9-0 decision at the Prager Family Squash Facility.

Saturday evening provided an opportunity for alumni to reminisce about their days as Navy squash players, sharing stories throughout the evening at Akerson Tower. The weekend concluded on Sunday morning when the annual Bowen Cup (alumni match) was held. Former Navy squash players grabbed their racquets and returned to the court to play against one another, as well as current members of the team.

"This weekend was another reminder of how special it is to be a part of this Navy squash community," said Navy head coach Tyler Osborne, who is in his sixth season leading the Midshipmen. "The relationships and friendships that started at the Academy and continue to grow were ever present throughout. We are so thankful to everyone that was able to be a part of such a milestone event and we look forward to representing Navy Squash over the next 75 years."

Match Highlights
• After playing the final 21 matches of the 2022-23 campaign a player down due to injury, Navy fielded a full lineup for the first time since Nov. 19, 2023.
• 2023-24 Barb Tournament winner Matt Wang (Jr / Malvern, Pa.) was the lone Navy player to extend his match to four games. After dropping a close opening game (12-10), Wang battle back to take game two 11-8. John Paul Tew edged Wang in the third (16-14) before closing out the match in the fourth with an 11-6 win.
• Tighe Mullarkey (Fr, So / Locust Valley, N.Y.) returned to the court for his first match since Nov. 19, 2023 against Wesleyan. Mullarkey was a freshman at the Academy a year ago and put together a 12-1 record before stepping away from the team to have surgery. Due to the nature of the surgery and the rehabilitation process, he was forced to withdraw from school and in turn, began the Naval Academy process from scratch. He went through Plebe Summer once again this past July and August and will repeat his freshman year.
• Saturday marked the debut for the Mids' four true freshmen - Matthew Kang (Malvern, Pa.) at #4, Sean Wu (Princeton, N.J.) at #7, Ramsay Killinger (Wyndmoor, Pa.) at #8 and Holden Woodward (Richmond, Va.) at #9.

What's Ahead
• Navy will play host to its annual three-day Veterans Day Weekend round robin beginning Friday evening.
• The Mids play Fordham in their opener at 7:00 pm on Friday, face Boston U. (9:00 am) and Denison (2:30 pm) on Saturday and close out action for the weekend on Sunday with a 10:00 am match against Bucknell and a 12-noon match against Georgetown.
• All five of the Navy matches will be streamed online, while live scoring will also be available. Links for both can be found on Navy's website, NavySports.com

Virginia 9, Navy 0
1 | John Paul Tew (V) def Matt Wang (N) // 12-10, 8-11, 16-14, 11-6
2 | Arhan Chandra (V) def Henry Sparkman (N) // 11-1, 11-6, 11-5
3 | Krishna Mishra (V) def Lucas Spiro (N) // 11-4, 11-4, 11-1
4 | Myles McIntyre (V) def Matthew Kang (N) // 11-9, 11-4, 11-5
5 | Francis Hajek (V) def Alexander Orr (N) // 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
6 | CJ Baldini (V) def Tighe Mullarkey (N) // 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
7 | Maxwell Velazquez (V) def Sean Wu (N) // 11-5, 11-6, 11-4
8 | Charles Braff (V) def Ramsay Killinger (N) // 11-3, 11-5, 11-5
9 | Andrew Barr (V) def Holden Woodward (N) // 11-1, 11-3, 11-4

### Go Navy ###