Virginia men’s squash kicked-off their 2021 season with a sweep of Navy this past weekend winning Saturday’s contest 6-3 and Sunday’s 9-0 at the Boar’s Head McArthur Squash Center in Charlottesville. Saturday’s match was the first collegiate squash match since the 2020 National Individual Championships on March 8, while Sunday’s match was the Cavaliers’ first sweep since their 9-0 win over Dickinson College Feb. 7 of last year.
“Well, that was a lot of fun,” Head Coach Mark Allen said. “And sharing that joy with all of the players, our own and Navy's, as well as parents, was a true privilege. Our practices and training have been going well but, like everyone, we have experienced our share of disruptions.”
On Saturday, Virginia suited up a squad of seven players, with sophomore Cullen Little playing at the No. 1 position. Little — who slotted in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions last year — struggled at the top spot, falling to Navy senior captain Jack Lentz in straight sets.
However, from the No. 2 to the No. 7 slot, the Cavaliers cleaned-up the Midshipmen, losing just one of 19 sets. Freshman Myles McIntyre was particularly impressive in his Virginia debut, defeating Navy junior Ryan York at the No. 2 position in straight-sets, 11-1, 11-3, 11-5.
The other wins include those of seniors Andrew Braff, William Braff and Matthew Katz — who potentially were playing their final weekend of collegiate squash pending a change to Virginia’s schedule — and Andrew Barr and Maxwell Velazquez, who notched their first collegiate squash victories.
Despite winning six of the seven matches played, the Cavaliers would forfeit the matches in the No. 8 and No. 9 slots, cutting their margin of victory to 6-3 to finish the afternoon.
Sunday featured even more dominance on Virginia’s end, as it fielded a full squad of nine players.
McIntyre moved into the No. 1 position following his dominant win over York, and showed much of the same prowess Sunday, downing Lentz in four-sets by a score of 11-7, 11-8, 3-11, 11-5. At the No. 2 spot, Little bounced back from his Saturday loss, defeating York in a thriller that went to five-sets and was closed out by a tight 11-9 win by the Baltimore native in the final frame.
Joining the team Sunday were sophomores Teddy Durfee and Tyler Mackesy, who played at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions, respectively. Both won their matches in four-sets despite playing at a higher position than last year.
The Cavaliers at the No. 5 through No. 9 spots would subsequently win their matches to lead Virginia to a 9-0 sweep of the Midshipmen.
“All our guys were ready to compete on Saturday, and everyone came out fast and focused from the first rally,” Allen said. “That is an achievement in and of itself when the last competitive match any of us played was over twelve months ago.”
The Cavaliers currently have no games slated for the rest of the season, but if new matches are scheduled, they will be announced at a later date.
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