The men’s squash team swept Williams College, 9–0, in its season opener Nov. 21. All the matches played by the top eight players were decided by a score of 3–0, and the team lost only two games overall.
“We played really solid,” C.J. Plimpton ’11 said. “We gave a really good performance. [Samuel] Clayman ’12 really stepped it up in the No. 9 spot.”
Rusty Feldman ’10 added: “It was a take-care-of-business kind of match.”
Three freshmen made their Yale squash debuts last week. Kenneth Chan ’13, Richard Dodd ’13 and Hywel Robinson ’13 played at No. 1, 4 and 5, respectively. Chan gave a commanding performance in the top spot, beating his opponent 11–2, 11–3 and 11–7.
“The freshmen all looked good. All of them won 3–0,” captain Todd Ruth ’10 said. “But they weren’t really tested, and they won’t be until January.”
Ruth defeated Williams’ Ethan Buchsbaum 12–10, 11–7 and 11–7.
In the No. 9 position, Clayman played a nail-biting match against Jeremy Herrmann. After winning the first game 11–9, Clayman dropped the second and third games 3–11 and 10–12, respectively. Then he rallied, tying it up with the fourth game. In the fifth, Clayman came out victorious with an exhausting 15–13 win.
“The whole team was watching from below and up above,” Feldman said. “The guy from Williams was actually one of my friends, and he had an unorthodox game that I don’t think Clayman was use to. But he had the will to win — big win for him, big win for us.”
“Clayman was definitely our MVP,” Ruth added.
For their first Ivy match of the season, the Bulldogs will travel to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday. So far this season, the Quakers are 0–2. They were defeated by Western Ontario, 4–5, and Cornell, 9–0.
“Penn is always a tough match for us,” Plimpton said. “We just need to go out there determined and focused.”
Following its match against the Quakers, the Elis take on Franklin and Marshall College. The Diplomats fell to Dartmouth earlier this season, 7–2.
“Franklin and Marshall is definitely good at the top,” Ruth said. “Their top three or four guys could pose a challenge.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs have their sights on the Ivy League Title. They are hoping their rigorous preseason and talented freshman class will put them ahead of Ivy squash rivals, Cornell and Princeton. Last season, the Elis finished 4–2 and tied with Harvard and Cornell for second in the Ancient Eight.
But two of the toughest challenges will be out of conference: The Elis take on Rochester and 11-time defending national champion Trinity in January.
“We’re of course hoping for national championship,” Ruth said. “We’re working hard enough, that’s for sure.”
The Bulldogs will take on Penn at 11 a.m. and Franklin and Marshall at 5 p.m. in a doubleheader on the road Saturday.