Princeton's depth dominates Diplomats

Before the men's squash team played Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday night, senior co-captain Nate Beck asserted that every Princeton player would win his match by a dominating 3-0 score. His prognostications were completely on the mark.

In their third match of the season, the Tigers (3-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) rolled over the visiting Diplomats, 9-0. Princeton has now won 26 of its 27 matches this fall.

A handful of Tigers sat out due to the lopsided nature of the matchup, giving some younger players a chance to gain collegiate experience.

The No. 1 position, usually occupied by three-time NCAA champion senior Yasser El Halaby, was instead taken by freshman Mauricio Sanchez. Sanchez proved he was up to the challenge and handily defeated his opponent, Rushabh Vora, by scores of 9-3, 9-0 and 9-5.

Freshman Hesham El-Halaby, Yasser's younger brother and Sanchez's high school teammate at the Lawrenceville School, was similarly impressive in posting a 9-3, 9-1, 9-0 victory against Satajjit Seshadri.

The El Halabys are not the only talented sibling duo on the team. Sophomore Scott Callahan and junior Tim Callahan saw action Wednesday night. They secured wins in the No. 7 and No. 8 positions, respectively. Tim Callahan defeated his opponent Shane Slater, 9-3, 9-3, 9-4, while Scott Callahan lost only one point en route to his 9-0, 9-1, 9-0 victory against Pat Pasquariello.

Junior Hop Wells and freshman Townie Wells likewise picked up victories at No. 9 and No. 10.

Beck, who won his match 9-7, 9-4, 9-0 at the No. 5 position, noted that many of the players started off a little flat and need to improve their preparation. This caused no serious problems, however, in the mismatched contests against Franklin & Marshall.

The Tigers should face more of a challenge Friday night when they host Williams College at home at 7 p.m. Princeton will also host its first Ivy League opponent, Brown, on Saturday at 2 p.m.