February 26, 2007
Men's Squash Finishes Season Ranked 29th in Country;
Babener Recognized as CSA Scholar-Athlete
NEW HAVEN, CT - Capping a successful 11-4 season, Haverford men's
squash fell to Wesleyan (8-1) at the College Squash Association
nine-man Team Championships at Yale this past weekend, but went
on to 6-3 wins over Vanderbilt & George Washington to finish
the season ranked #29 in the country out of 52 teams participating.
Senior Jeremy Babener went undefeated at the #3 position and was
recognized at the Saturday banquet as one of 57 College Squash Association
Scholar-Athletes nationwide.
Following an 8-1 defeat to Wesleyan on Friday, Haverford regrouped
for a hard-fought 6-3 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. In a match
played on three courts, Babener (#3, Alex Buxbaum (#6), & Jeff
Monhait (#9) all won quickly to push Haverford out to a 3-0 lead
in the match, but Vanderbilt fired back with a five-game win over
Mike Montesano at #5 and a close 4-game win over Evan Stiegel at
#2 to close to 3-2 overall. Marc Adelberg, #8, had lost in five
games the previous match vs. Wesleyan and was nursing a slightly
pulled muscle in his leg, so the match looked to be all tied up,
but Adelberg fired up emotionally and completed a stirring comeback
from two games down to win by scores of
2-9, 4-9, 9-4, 10-9, 9-6.
Leading four matches to two, Haverford needed only one win in the
remaining three matches. Captain Paul Koprowski provided the clincher
with a 9-4, 9-6, 9-6 thrashing at #4 and Adil Khan won in five games
at #7 to provide extra breathing room in the 6-3 victory.
Following numerous morale-building trips to Ashley's (local ice
cream emporium), Haverford's squash bears came out pumped for their
final match of the year versus the George Washington Colonials.
Playing on five courts, even-numbered matches first, Adelberg won
in three easily while Alex Buxbaum went down in three, and Evan
Stiegel fought through back spasms before losing in five, balanced
by Paul Koprowski's five game win at #4.
With the match tied at 2-2, Jeff Monhait won a quick three at #9,
but Mike Montesano lost in three at #5. Adil Khan played dominating,
error-free squash to win in three games at #7, putting Haverford
up 4-3. At this point Jeremy Babener was headed for a fifth game
and Alex Salton, loser of his first two matches of the weekend,
was behind 8-1 in the first game. It was anybody's match to win.
But in front of a large George Washington crowd, Alex Salton reached
back for a little extra and found his magic touch. From 8-1 down
in the first game Salton fired nicks on top of nicks to totally
demoralize his opponent and the crowd & came all the way back
to win the first game by 10-8. Salton continued the demolition to
win the next two games 9-0, 9-3 to clinch the match for Haverford.
An exhausted Jeremy Babener, encouraged by the crowd roars accompanying
winner after winner by Salton, rallied in the fifth game to grind
out a 9-0 win, pouring salt on the Colonial's wounds for a solid
6-3 Haverford win and a final ranking of 29th in the country.
