HARTFORD, Conn. - The Bard College men's squash team went 2-1 at the College Squash Association National Team Championships this weekend, culminating with a thrilling 5-4 loss to Vassar College in the H Division Championship.

CSA Divisions at this even are labeled A through H, with A including the top teams in the country. Vassar and Bard were in opposite round robin pools in the H Division. Bard beat Oregon, 7-0, Friday, then edged Vanderbilt, 5-4, on Saturday night. At the same time, Vassar was beating Notre Dame and Ithaca, setting up the H Division title match on Sunday morning.

In November, Vassar beat Bard, 8-1. In January, Bard beat Vassar, 5-4. And just a couple of weeks ago, Vassar beat Bard 6-3.

Their fourth meeting was the most exciting yet. Pranjal Ghate set the tone with a five-game win at No. 9 for Bard, rallying to beat Samuel Hammer 11-1, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6 and 17-15. Eventually, Bard led 4-3 with two matches ongoing at No. 1 and No. 7. John Levering, who was swept by Vassar's Vincent Mencotti in three games a couple of weeks ago, took the first two sets against Mencotti this time. He eventually fell in five, 14-16, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2.

That left Francesca Cornali, the only woman on either team, to try to win it for Bard. She won the first and third set, but lost in the fifth set, 11-9, to Ben Kurchin.

"It was unbelievable," said Bard coach Craig Thorpe-Clark. "We actually feel like winners. Just tremendous guts and effort."

In the match against Vanderbilt, it was 4-4 before freshman Ayateru Maeda swept his opponent at No. 3.
 

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Bard 7, Oregon 0

1. John Levering def. Emerson Miao 11-1, 11-2, 11-2
2. Jack Smith def. Christopher Cramer 11-3, 11-7, 13-11
3. Ayateru Maeda def. Gordon Reed 12-10, 11-7, 11-4
4. Abe Etkin def. Michael Casner 11-1, 11-3, 11-7
5. Asad Hashmi def. Tyler Boadway 6-11, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7
6. Satwik Srikrishnan by default
7. Pranjal Ghate by default

Bard 5, Vanderbilt 4

1. Levering (B) def. David McGrath 11-6, 11-6, 11-5
2. Smith (B) def. Stephen O'Leary 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5
3. Maeda (B) def. Dewey O'Neill 11-8, 12-10, 11-8
4. Etkin (B) def. Dewey O'Neill 11-4, 13-11, 9-11, 11-3
5. Charlie Obrecht (V) def. Hashmi 11-5, 11-5, 11-8
6. Parker Dixon (V) def. Vikramaditya Joshi 11-8, 11-4, 11-7
7. Andrew Carlston (V) def. Francesca Cornali 11-6, 11-3, 11-7
8. Evan Wong (V) def. Srikrishnan 7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-4
9. Ghate (B) def. Patrick Whalen 11-3, 11-1, 11-1

Vassar 5, Bard 4

1. Vincent Mencotti (V) def. Levering 14-16, 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-2
2. Smith (B) def. Timothy Veit 11-7, 15-13, 11-5
3. Maeda (B) def. Juan Fernandez 11-7, 11-5, 11-5
4. Etkin (B) def. David Garfinkel 11-5, 11-4, 9-11, 5-11, 11-3
5. Ryan Kurtzman (V) def. Hashmi 11-5, 11-8, 11-7
6. Noah Kulick (V) def. Joshi 11-9, 11-9, 11-9
7. Ben Kurchin (V) def. Cornali 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3, 11-9
8. Tim Boycott (V) def. Srikrishnan 10-12, 11-3, 11-6, 11-8
9. Ghate (B) def. Samuel Hammer  11-1, 5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 17-15