The 22nd-ranked Navy squash team (12-9) will close out the regular season this weekend with a three-match trip to Pittsburgh, Pa. Chatham (3-5), who is ranked right ahead of the Mids, will play host to Navy, #12 Western (4-4) and #15 Rochester (3-3) in round robin play with matches to be held at Shady Side Academy. The Mids open the weekend with a 7:00 pm match on Friday against the host Chatham Cougars, followed by a 7:00 pm match on Saturday against Western and a 12-noon contest against Rochester on Sunday.


This Week's Schedule
Friday
7:00 pm - #22 Navy at #21 Chatham // Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa.
How to follow: Live scoring link available on Navy Athletics website (NavySports.com)

Saturday
7:00 pm - #22 Navy vs. #12 Western // Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa.
How to follow: Live scoring link available on Navy Athletics website (NavySports.com)

Sunday
12:00 pm - #22 Navy vs. #15 Rochester // Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa.
How to follow: Live scoring link available on Navy Athletics website (NavySports.com)

Navy's Projected Lineup
Player (Yr / Hometown / 2023-24 record / career record)
1 |  Matt Wang (Jr / Malvern, Pa. / 11-8 / 50-33)
2 |  Henry Sparkman (Sr / Darien, Conn. / 8-12 / 44-34)
3 |  Lucas Spiro (Jr / Buffalo, N.Y. / 10-11 / 43-38)
4 |  Alexander Orr (So / Haverford, Pa. / 13-7 / 36-18)
5 |  Matthew Kang (Fr / Malvern, Pa. / 8-9 / 8-9)
6 |  Tighe Mullarkey (Fr, So / Locust Valley, N.Y. / 11-9 / 23-10)
7 |  Sean Wu (Fr / Princeton, N.J. / 11-9 / 11-9)
8 |  Ramsay Killinger (Fr / Wyndmoor, Pa. / 14-6 / 14-6)
9 |  Holden Woodward (Fr / Richmond, Va. / 3-16 / 3-16)

Last Time Out
• Navy dropped a 9-0 decision to a talented seventh-ranked Drexel squad last Wednesday (1/24) at the Kline & Specter Squash Center, but regrouped to take down #31 Haverford at the GIAC Squash Courts in what was the Mids' second trip to the Philadelphia region in 24 hours.
• Navy was forced to play short-handed in both matches after the flu hit the Mids Tuesday evening.
• #7 Drexel earned its win over the Mids behind 3-0 victories in 8 of the 9 matches with Navy defaulting the final match due to illness
• Navy had hopes of playing with a full lineup on Thursday with the return of #8 player Ramsay Killinger. However Matt Wang and Matthew Kang, the team's #1 and #5 players respectively, were unable to compete after being hit with the flu.
• The Midshipmen overcame the early 2-0 deficit with back-to-back wins by Sean Wu and Alexander Orr and the #5 and #3 positions ... Wu provided Navy with its first win of the night on a 3-0 victory (11-1, 11-4, 11-7) against Benjamin Schiltz, while Orr, who is second on the team in wins this season, knotted the match at 2-2 with a 3-0 sweep (11-7, 11-5, 11-8) against Kai Thomas Schinaman
• Haverford pulled back ahead, 3-2, when Arvin Krishnan rallied from 2 games down to defeat Navy's Holden Woodward at the #7 spot in 5 games (9-11, 10-12, 11-3, 12-10, 11-8)
• Navy went on to win the final 4 matches, however 2 of the 4 would go the distance
• Tighe Mullarkey's 3-0 win (11-5, 11-9, 13-11) over Peter Lehv kicked off the run and was followed by a spectacular win by Lucas Spiro at #2 ... Spiro and Haverford's Aaryaman Jaising traded victories and Jaising looked to have the match secured in the fourth game ... Spiro, however, fought off match balls to take the fourth game 14-12 and force a fifth game ... Spiro went on to earn the 3-2 victory with an 11-7 win in the fifth
• Navy clinched the win behind Ramsay Killinger's sweep (11-9, 11-5, 11-2) over Qianzhi Zhao at #6 ... Killinger leads the team with a 14-6 record this season
• Like Spiro, team captain Henry Sparkman had a gutsy performance in the final match of the evening ... Sparkman found himself down 2-1, including a tough 12-10 loss in the third game ... Sparkman bounced back to take game four 11-8 before closing out the match with a 13-11 win in the fifth

About the Opponents
Chatham
• Navy and Chatham will meet for just the third time, as the two met in Pittsburgh on Feb. 12, 2022 in the inaugural match. The Cougars won that match 9-0
• The Cougars defeated the Mids 8-1 a year ago (Jan. 28) in what was their first trip to Annapolis
• Chatham enters the weekend with a 3-5 record, but the Cougars have two in a row
• Chatham has wins over Denison (7-2), Amherst (5-4) and St. Lawrence (6-3), while it has dropped matches to Haverford (5-4), Drexel (9-0), Franklin & Marshall (7-2), Cornell (9-0) and Tufts (8-1)
• #3 Muhammad Hassaan Raza (So / Lahore, Pakistan) has won 5 of his 6 matches this season, while #2 Sebastian Antonio Vaca Sanchez (So / Ambato, Ecuador) is 5-3

Western
• Navy and Western will meet for 17th time with the Mustangs owning an 11-5 advantage in the series
• The inaugural meeting between the two programs was held Feb. 7, 2009 with the Mids scoring a 7-2 victory on neutral ground
• Navy won each of the first 3 matches, however the Mustangs have won 4 of the last 5 meetings
• The Mids' last win in the series was a 5-4 victory at home on Nov. 10, 2018
• Western captured a 7-2 win over Navy a year ago in Annapolis
• Western, located in Ontario, Canada, enters the weekend with an 8-8 record and has won three in a row ... the Mustangs have wins over Hobart (6-3), St. Lawrence (8-1), Queen's (5-2) and Columbia (5-4) ... their losses have been to Rochester (6-3), Penn (9-0), Drexel (9-0) and Princeton (9-0)
• #5 Amin Khan (Jr / Windsor, Ontario) stands atop the win leader board for Western with a 5-3 record, while #6 Griffin Manley (Jr / Toronto, Ontario), #8 Ben Boulanger (Jr / Calgary, Alberta), #9 Rio Schafer (So / Victoria, British Columbia) and #10 EXH William Znidarec (Fr) have 4 wins apiece

Rochester
• Meeting for the 30th time in series history, it will mark the first match between Navy and Rochester since 2009
• Navy owns a 25-4 series advantage, including a 6-1 mark in matches played at a neutral site
• The inaugural meeting between the two programs was held Dec. 16, 1972 with Navy earning a 9-0 win at Rochester
• Rochester has won 3 in a row against the Mids - 6-3 on Feb. 2, 2008 / 7-2 at the CSA Championship on Feb. 16, 2008 / 9-0 on Jan. 31, 2009 - with Navy's last victory in the series (7-2) came on Feb. 4, 2007 at home
• The Yellow Jackets enter the weekend with a 3-3 record ... they have wins over MIT (6-3), Western (6-3) and Frarnklin & Marshall (9-0), while dropping decisions to Dartmouth (5-4), Hobart (5-4) and Cornell (8-1)
• Rochester will face Chatham on Saturday at 5:00 pm before playing the Mids on Sunday
• #1 Yash Fadte (Jr / Vasco Da Gama, India) and #2 Luis Moncada (Sr / Playa del Carmen, Mexico) lead the team in the wins column with 5 wins apiece, while Arnav Mandhana (Jr / Mumbai, India) and #3 Omar Zakaria (Jr / Suffield Academy) have 4 wins apiece

What's Ahead
• Navy will travel to Philadelphia, Pa. next week to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference Championship
• The three-day competition which will be played at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center kicks off next Friday, Feb. 2 and runs through Sunday
• The six-team league features Dickinson, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, MIT, Navy and Virginia

### Go Navy ###