GRANVILLE, Ohio (December 6, 2021) – The No. 32 Denison University men's squash team played at home for the first time in official varsity competition, hosting No. 42 Michigan and No. 46 Ohio State on Saturday, December 4. In the end, the Big Red fell 5-4 in a close match to the Wolverines before bouncing back with an 8-1 victory over the Buckeyes.
Against Michigan, Denison won each of the top four seeds as
Abdallah Bekhiet (1 seed) and
Huma Bekhiet (3 seed) each won 3-0 while
Mario Reifschneider (4 seed) won 3-1 and
Lucas Piller (2 seed) won 3-2 after dropping the first and third set and grinding out a narrow 13-11 win in the fifth set.
Against Ohio State, Denison swept each of the second through ninth seeds while A. Bekhiet forced a fifth set in the top seed before falling 11-6. Piller, H. Bekhiet and Reifschneider each improved to 2-0 on the day.
"Over the weekend the Denison men's varsity team competed against OSU and Michigan," spoke co-captain
Mark Taylor. "Saturday was a big day for the team as it was our first home match as a varsity program. We beat OSU 8-1, but lost a close match to Michigan 5-4. We had a great turnout for our first home match. It was great to showcase to the school, and our peers, the work we have put into this season."
When Denison returns to action next Spring, its season will continue with four matches at the Pioneer Valley invitational in Massachusetts on Saturday, January 15, and Sunday, January 16.
Denison 4, Michigan 5:
1S:
Abdallah Bekhiet def. Vishal Prashant 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 14-12)
2S:
Lucas Piller def. Jeremy Waldman 3-2 (9-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 13-11)
3S:
Huma Bekhiet def. Vivaan Mahtab 3-0 (11-2, 11-4, 11-8)
4S:
Mario Reifschneider def. Anourag Shah 3-1 (9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-3)
5S: Louis Alpert def.
Joao Victor Barbosa Gomes 3-1 (8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9)
6S: Gaurav Shekhawat def.
Rayan Dar 3-0 (11-5, 18-16, 11-7)
7S: Jesse Scherl def.
Michael Chin-Lee 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-6)
8S: Yajwin Jain def.
Max Mehm 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-6)
9S: Erik Barker def.
Mark Taylor 3-0 (11-1, 11-1, 11-3)
Denison 8, Ohio State 1:
1S: Corey Kovalovich def.
Abdallah Bekhiet 3-2 (7-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6)
2S:
Lucas Piller def. Sam Schmidt 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-8)
3S:
Huma Bekhiet def. Blaze Fletcher-Broderson 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-1)
4S:
Mario Reifschneider def. Mohammed Saad 3-0 (11-2, 11-6, 11-2)
5S:
Joao Victor Barbosa Gomes def. Gavin Tallal 3-0 (11-0, 11-6, 11-1)
6S:
Rayan Dar def. Noah Fabec 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-4)
7S:
Michael Chin-Lee def. Sebastain Olsson 3-0 (11-3, 11-2, 11-7)
8S:
Max Mehm def. Havi Patel (3-0 (11-6, 11-1, 11-2)
9S:
Mark Taylor def. Arjun Thomas 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-3)