PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – It came down to the final match, and for the first time in team history, the top-ranked and No. 13 nationally ranked MIT squash team won the College Squash Association (CSA) Divisional Championship Hoehn Cup as the Engineers earned a thrilling 5-4 win over third seed and No. 15 nationally ranked Colby in the championship match at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.
The Engineers were anchored by the lower portions of the ladder as MIT swept ladders 5-9, dropping just one set.
The win ensures that the Engineers will achieve one of the highest rankings in program history. This is also the second CSA Team Championship overall for MIT as they won the Summers Cup in 2019.
THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 5, Colby 4
- Records: MIT 17-5 Overall, Colby 10-8 Overall
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- 3-0 wins by both teams evened the match early. Mitav Nayak swept Oliver Riordan in the ninth ladder, 11-1, 11-8, 11-6 while Hamza Wessam took a 3-0 win in position three.
- Zachary Starr earned a 3-0 win in No. 7, but the Mules also grabbed a 3-1 win in No. 4 from Youssif Mostafa.
- Carlos Zendejas gave Colby a 3-2 advantage with a 3-1 win over Ethan Chan in the second slot, but MIT quickly pulled even with an Isaac Torchinsky-Field 3-0 win over Tymofii Radionov in No. 6.
- Sean-Winston Luo got the Engineers match point with a 3-0 win against Avery Rosenberg in the eighth ladder, but a sweep in the top slot by Seif Ashraf set up a decisive match between Rishabh Sharma and Omar Bastawy in the fifth ladder.
- With the championship winning point on the line and a full crown watching, Bastawy took the first set 11-8, but Sharma took the next two by scores of 13-11 and 11-8. The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair, but Sharma was able to achieve championship point with a thrilling 15-13 win
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