The fifth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Navy squash team (12-12) will face top-seeded and eighth-ranked Drexel (5-5) in the opening round of the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference (MASC) Championship. The Mids and Dragons are slated to meet on Friday at 4:30 pm at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia. In addition to Navy and Drexel, the men's side of the MASC includes Dickinson (#6 seed / #25 rank / 6-8 record), Franklin & Marshall (#3 seed / #18 / 11-8), MIT (#4 seed / #19 / 10-11) and Virginia (#2 seed / #10 / 7-5).

Navy will play its second-round match on Saturday at 9:00 am against fourth-seeded MIT, who the Mids lost to (5-4) in a neutral site match played in Charlottesville, Va. The placement matches are set for Sunday at 10:00 am (Championship), 12:00 pm (2nd/3rd place) and 2:00 pm (5th/6th place).

MASC Championship Schedule
Group 1: Seeds 1, 4, 5 (Drexel, MIT, Navy)
Group 2: Seeds 2, 3, 6 (Virginia, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson)
How to follow: Live scoring and streaming links available on Navy Athletics website (NavySports.com)

Friday
4:30 pm / No. 1 Drexel vs. No. 5 Navy
4:30 pm / No. 3 Franklin & Marshall vs. No. 6 Dickinson

Saturday
9:00 am / No. 4 MIT vs. No. 5 Navy
9:00 am / No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 6 Dickinson
2:00 pm / No. 1 Drexel vs. No. 4 MIT
2:00 pm / No. 2 Virginia vs. No. No. 3 Franklin & Marshall

Sunday
10:00 am / Championship
12:00 pm / 3rd-Place Playoff
2:00 pm / 5th-Place Playoff

Navy's Projected Lineup
Player (Yr / Hometown / 2023-24 record / career record)
1 |  Matt Wang (Jr / Malvern, Pa. / 11-11 / 50-36)
2 |  Henry Sparkman (Sr / Darien, Conn. / 8-15 / 44-37)
3 |  Lucas Spiro (Jr / Buffalo, N.Y. / 10-14 / 43-41)
4 |  Alexander Orr (So / Haverford, Pa. / 13-10 / 36-21)
5 |  Matthew Kang (Fr / Malvern, Pa. / 9-11 / 9-11)
6 |  Tighe Mullarkey (Fr, So / Locust Valley, N.Y. / 12-11 / 24-12)
7 |  Sean Wu (Fr / Princeton, N.J. / 11-12 / 11-12)
8 |  Ramsay Killinger (Fr / Wyndmoor, Pa. / 14-9 / 14-9)
9 |  Holden Woodward (Fr / Richmond, Va. / 3-19 / 3-19)

More On Drexel
• Drexel and Navy are meeting for the 18th time, including the second time in the span of two weeks (17 days) with the Dragons holding a 12-5 advantage in the series
• Navy won the first 5 matches, while Drexel has won 12 in a row, including a 9-0 match played Jan. 24 in Philly
• Navy's last win in the series was at the CSA Team Championship on Feb. 16, 2014 when the Mids edged the Dragons 5-4
• Drexel enters Friday's match with a 5-5 record, securing wins over #24 Chatham (9-0), #31 Haverford (9-0), #15 Western (9-0), #8 Virginia (7-2) and Navy (9-0), while dropping matches to #1 Penn (7-2), #5 Princeton (5-4), #3 Yale (9-0), #6 Columbia (5-4) and #9 Cornell (5-4)
• The Dragons have not played since sweeping the Midshipmen on their home courts on Jan. 24
• Guido Lindner (Fr / Woerden, Netherlands) is atop the Drexel wins leader board with an 8-2 record, while Fritiof Jacobsson (Jr / Gothenburg, Sweden) and Jose Lopez (5th Yr / San Salvador, El Salvador) has 7 wins apiece and Yuri Pelbart (So / Sao Paolo, Brazil) has 6 wins ... the 4 players have played between the #3 and #7 positions throughout the season
• Last year, Drexel earned its best finish in the Potter Cup division of the College Squash Association Team Championship by placing fifth ... the Dragons dropped a 7-2 decision to eventual National Champion Penn in the opener, but bounced back to beat Princeton (5-4) and Cornell (7-2).

A Look Back
Navy at Drexel | Jan. 24, Philadelphia, Pa.
1 | Youssef Bastawy (D) def Matt Wang (N) // 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
2 | Fritiof Jacobsson (D) def Henry Sparkman (N) // 11-8, 11-1, 11-5
3 | Guido Lindner (D) def Lucas Spiro (N) // 11-3, 11-1, 11-4
4 | Jose Andres Lopez (D) def Alexander Orr (N) // 11-4, 11-2, 11-1
5 | Charlie Taylor (D) def Matthew Kang (N) // 11-8, 11-5, 11-9
6 | Shomari Wiltshire (D) def Tighe Mullarkey (N) // 11-5, 11-9, 11-6
7 | Matthew Lucente (D) def Sean Wu (N) // 11-5, 11-0, 11-6
8 | Michael Berry (D) def Holden Woodward (N) // 11-4, 11-0, 11-2
9 | Nicolo Abou Taleb (D) def Default (N) // Default


More On MIT
• In a series that began in 1949, Navy owns a 55-6 series advantage over MIT
• The Engineers, however, have won 6-consecutive matches against Navy, including a 5-4 decision over the Mids in early December
• Navy's last win in the series was on Nov. 16, 2018, when the Mids captured a 7-2 victory over MIT in Annapolis
• MIT has put together a 10-11 record to date and is ranked 19th nationally. The Engineers own wins over Boston U. (9-0), Boston College (9-0), Northeastern (9-0), St. Lawrence (5-4), Hobart (6-3), Brown (9-0 / top-ranked club team), Navy (5-4), Wesleyan (9-0), Middlebury (5-4) and Bates (8-1). Their losses have come against Western (5-4), Rochester (6-3), Colby (6-3),  Trinity (9-0), Virginia (9-0), Dartmouth (6-3), Harvard (9-0), Franklin & Marshall (5-4), Amherst (7-2), Tufts (9-0) and Williams (8-1)
• #8 player Yos Wagenmans (Sr / Seattle, Wash.) leads the team with a 13-8 record, while #2 Hyun Su Price (So / Philadelphia, Pa.) stands 12-8 on the year

A Look Back
Navy vs. MIT | Dec. 3, Charlottesville, Va.
1 | Matt Wang (N) def Mero Elmarassy (MIT) // 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4
2 | Philip Hyun Su Price (MIT) def Henry Sparkman (N) // 12-10, 11-5, 11-6
3 | Collin Wen (MIT) def Lucas Spiro (N) // 11-9, 11-8, 11-9
4 | John Gunton (MIT) def Matthew Kang (N) // 11-0, 11-5, 11-7
5 | Alexander Orr (N) def Bobby Albani (MIT) // 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7
6 | Nikhil Kakarla (MIT) def Tighe Mullarkey (N) // 11-8, 12-14, 11-6, 11-7
7 | Sean Wu (N) def Mitav Nayak (MIT) // 11-6, 17-15, 11-8
8 | Ramsay Killinger (N) def Matt McManus (MIT) // 4-11, 9-11, 11-7, 4-10 ret.
9 | Yos Wagenmans (MIT) def Holden Woodward (N) // 11-1, 11-6, 11-6

What's Ahead
• Navy will play in the College Squash Association Team Divisional Championship next week (Feb. 15-18) held at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia

### Go Navy ###