WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Three members of the Bates men's squash team avenged losses to their Middlebury opponents from a Jan. 24 match, enabling the Bobcats to reverse that day's 6-3 loss with a 6-3 win over the Panthers on Sunday in the NESCAC Championship Third-Place Match. 

It is the fifth year in a row the rivals have played for third place in the conference tournament, and Bates has won the past three. Bates has also claimed third place six times in the NESCAC tournament's eight-year existence. This year, however, the Bobcats were the fourth seed and the Panthers No. 2 -- last year it was the other way around.

At the sixth, eighth and ninth positions in the lineup, respectively, junior captain Caran Arora (Mumbai, India), sophomore Spencer Burt (Portland, Ore.) and sophomore Carlos Ames (Williamstown, Mass.) all defeated the same Middlebury player that defeated them in the teams' meeting Jan. 24 at Middlebury. 

Arora downed David Cromwell 3-1 (11-2, 11-8, 12-14, 11-9) after falling 3-1; Burt swept Robert Galluccio 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-9) after losing 3-2; and Ames countered his 3-2 loss to Cameron Dewey on Jan. 24 with a 3-0 triumph on Sunday.

Junior Ahmed Abdel Khalek (Cairo, Egypt), sophomore Ahmed Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) and senior captain Andy Cannon (Greenwich, Conn.) all won points for the Bobcats at 1, 2 and 4, respectively. Abdel Khalek and Hatata both won in straight games to stay unbeaten this season, and Cannon put away Harrison Croll 3-1 at the four spot.

The Bobcats rose to 12-8 with their fourth win in the past five matches. Their team schedule culminates with the College Squash Association Team Nationals, to be held Feb. 20-22 at Trinity College, with rankings and seedings to be determined.