GRANVILLE, OHIO (November 4, 2023) – For the first time in its four years as a varsity sport, the Denison University men's squash team played at home in its season opener, welcoming Chatham University into the Mitchell Center. In the end, the No. 29-ranked Big Red came up short to No. 15 Chatham by a final score of 7-2 on Saturday.

It was a positive result for a Denison team that had yet to win a point off of Chatham during their previous three meetings over the last three years.

The highlight for Denison was a gutsy five-set comeback win for sophomore Juan Felipe Hernandez in the top spot, who pulled out a wild 13-11 win in the fourth set before winning 11-7 in the fifth.

Denison also picked up an early win from freshman Jackson Bragman at the No. 9 seed as the rookie rolled 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-7) for his first-career win.

Then as Chatham began to take control of the match, Denison showed resistance in the bottom half of the lineup as sophomore Ross Falcon (No. 7 seed) lost both of his first two sets by just two points each and then won the third set 11-8 before falling 11-8 himself in the fourth set.

At the No. 5 seed, junior Lucas Piller battled to a win in his fourth set as well before ultimately falling 3-1 (11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).

Lastly, it was Senior Day for Huma Bekhiet, who will be graduating from Denison following the end of the Fall semester.

The Big Red will be back in action next weekend when they head to the United States Naval Academy. Denison will take on Georgetown University at 9 a.m. and No. 25 Navy at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, followed by a match at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 12, against No. 32 Fordham University.
 
Denison 2, Chatham 7:
1S: Juan Felipe Hernandez def. Jared Nalliah 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 10-12, 13-11, 11-7)
2S: Sebastian Vaca Sanchez def. Tarun Mammen 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-4)
3S: Muhammad Hassaan Raza def. Huma Bekhiet 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-4)
4S: Haidar Jafry def. Charlie Fenwick 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-7)
5S: Abdelrahman Sadek def. Lucas Piller 3-1 (11-3, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7)
6S: Alejandro Cruz def. Chase Lenfest 3-0 (11-6, 11-3, 11-3)
7S: Ishaan Nayar def. Ross Falcon 3-1 (12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8)
8S: Brett Poles def. Jack Jones 3-1 (11-4, 11-9, 8-11, 11-4)
9S: Jackson Bragman def. Keyel Beasley 3-0 (11-8, 11-3, 11-7)