The #32 ranked Fordham squash team participated in the Navy Round Robin this past weekend, featuring five matchups against teams like the United States Naval Academy, Bucknell University, Georgetown University and Denison University. The group ended with a winning record, taking three out of the five matches.
In the opening matchup against Navy, the Rams struggled to overcome the efforts of the Midshipmen. Navy won all nine matches in three games from the Rams.
Sophomore Jack Stanley, who plays in fifth position, faced Alexander Orr for a close matchup. He dropped the first set 11-7 and the second 12-10, before ultimately falling to Orr with a third match score of 13-11.
Sophomore Nicholas Gilman, in first position, fell to Matthew Wang, 11-1, 11-8 and 11-8.
The Rams had time to shake the loss off, as they took on their second match against Bucknell the next day. This time, the Rams had much more success than they did against Navy.
Gilman continued his position at first in the order, defeating Bisons Andrew Rebak in five games, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8, 8-11 and 13-11.
The Rams dropped the second and third position matches, but regained ground as the four through eight slots picked up wins. Thanks to freshman Peter Vorbach, Stanley, junior Robert Cruikshank, sophomore Gray Kearns and junior Sofia Arseniev, the Rams locked down the match against Bucknell 6-3.
Next up for Fordham was a showdown against the “B” squad for the Navy, and in preparation, the Rams’ starting eight positions looked a little different.
Switching things up, Vorbach took the first slot match, who usually plays fourth, taking a win over Alexandre Toner. The final line was as follows: 11-5, 11-0 and 11-1. Starting off strong for Fordham, it set the tone for the rest of the day.
Keeping the momentum was Stanley, this time playing in the second slot instead of fifth, getting an easy win over Alexander Hoot, with a score line of 11-5, 11-2 and 11-4.
Additional wins for Fordham came from the new looking lineup of Cruikshank (3rd), Kearns (4th), Arseniev (5th), senior Caleb Schumacher (6th), sophomore Crispin McCarthy (7th), senior Nicholas Choo (8th) and junior Edwin Hess (9th).
Finally, the Rams developed a win streak with their final win of the weekend against Georgetown.
Gilman was back in first position with a win, taking a matchup between himself and Dietrich Jacobs. The first two rounds finished with a score of 11-6, 11-6. The third match ended with Jacobs retiring early to Gilman, giving him the decisive victory.
Vorbach picked up his third win of the afternoon at fourth position with an 11-7, 11-6, 10-12 and 11-5 victory against Heath Otenasek.
Cruikshank, Kearns and Arseniev all recorded their third wins of the day at the sixth through eighth positions, and Schumacher picked up a default point at the ninth spot.
Lastly, on the weekend, the Rams winning streak ended just as quickly as it started, being swept against Denison 0-9.
Junior Bennett Van Liew took the number one spot for the Rams in the match, conceding to Juan Felipe Hernandez in three matches, 11-7, 11-4 and 11-3.
Vorbach put up a good fight in the third spot but couldn’t overcome Charlie Fenwick.
The Rams have a jam-packed weekend coming up for them as they have three scheduled matches. The matches are against the Princeton University Club team, Cornell University’s Club team and George Washington University.
Those will kick off at home at Rose Hill on the Lombardi Squash Courts on Saturday.
