ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College men's squash team made history last season, winning a program-best 11 matches.

Though it's early in the 2016-17 season, the Raptors have already made history again. A squad that went 0-17 just three seasons ago improved to 6-0 with decisive wins over Swarthmore and Siena on Sunday, making it the best start in the history of the program.

It made the final day of the Bard Round Robin relatively uneventful, as Bard beat Swarthmore, 8-1, and Siena, 9-0. But it wasn't too long ago that sweeping two matches in a day seemed next to impossible: Bard is 17-8 in the last two seasons after being 4-30 over the two seasons previous. 

The rise of the program has coincided with the hiring of Craig Thorpe-Clark as coach, and a new commitment and enthusiasm from members of the growing roster. Actually it's no coincidence. Thorpe-Clark has demanded effort and commitment, he's getting it, and the players are enjoying winning.

"The opportunity to play multiple matches in a weekend is great, and we appreciate the efforts of the opposition to get here," Thorpe-Clark said. "Hopefully these results are a good platform for the rest of the semester and the rest of the season."

So what does it mean that Bard is 6-0? It means that the Raptors are embarking on a long, tortuous effort to bridge the ever-widening gap between the lower and upper echelon teams in the college squash world. And they've only just begun. Two of the top four teams in the country - Rochester and St. Lawrence - are in the Liberty League and the only conference team Bard has ever beaten is Vassar.

The Raptors won't play against until Dec. 4 at Vassar. That day, they'll play the Brewers, who they've beaten three straight times, and Tufts, which beat Bard 8-1 in February.

Bard 8, Swarthmore 1

1. Henry Ortmeyer (S) def. Rhys Nordstrom 11-5, 12-10, 11-7
2. Julian Dime (B) def. Davy Qi 11-5, 11-4, 11-4
3. Pranjal Ghate (B) def. Chris You 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
4. Abe Etkin (B) def. Ted Park 11-4, 11-2, 11-6
5. Vikramaditya Joshi (B) def. Olivia Cheng 11-1, 11-6, 11-2
6. Aman Kurien (B) def. Angus Lam 11-2, 11-5, 11-5
7. Theo Webb (B) def. Amanda Izes 11-4, 11-3, 11-4
8. Artun Ak (B) def. Elisa Kim 11-3, 11-4, 11-2
9. Simon DeBevoise (B) by default

Bard 9, Siena 0

1. Nordstrom (B) def. Faizan Rahim 11-5, 11-8, 11-8
2. Ayateru Maeda (B) def. Edward Stumm 11-8, 11-2, 11-7
3. Dime (B) def. Jack McQuade 11-2, 11-3, 11-2
4. Ghate (B) def. Tyler Tsang 11-2, 11-1, 11-6
5. Etkin (B) def. Jimmy Weimer 11-4, 11-6, 11-7
6. Joshi (B) def. John Keenan 11-3, 11-1, 11-7
7. Kurien (B) def. Russell Santos 11-5, 11-3, 11-3
8. Satwik Srikrishnan (B) def. Liann Goldman 11-2, 11-1, 11-4
9. Webb (B) def. Joey Gallagher 11-1, 11-3, 11-1.
 

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2016 BARD ROUND ROBIN

Friday, Nov. 11
Bard 9, Lafayette 0

Saturday, Nov. 12
Vassar 7, Lafayette 2
Bard 6, Colgate 3
Lafayette 8, Siena 1
Vassar 6, Swarthmore 3
Colgate 6, Swarthmore 1

Sunday, Nov. 13
Bard 8, Swarthmore 1
Colgate 7, Siena 2
Bard 9, Siena 0