CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Senior
Ahmed Hatata won at the No. 1 position and first-year
Mahmoud Yousry won at the No. 2 position but it wasn't enough as the No. 15 nationally ranked Bates men's squash team fell 7-2 to No. 11 Navy Saturday in the consolation semifinals at the College Squash Association Team Championships.
Bates (14-5) will take on No. 16 Franklin & Marshall Sunday at 9:00 a.m. to wrap up the weekend. The winner will finish ranked 15th in the country.
Hatata (Alexandria, Egypt) won his 18th consecutive match on Saturday, defeating Jack Herold 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 11-9) to further help his cause for a fourth consecutive All-American selection.
Meanwhile, Yousry (Cairo, Egypt) picked up his first win on the nationals stage with a dramatic 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9) win over Senen Ubina. Yousry fell behind 2-1 only to even things up with a victory in game four. He won the deciding game by two points to earn his 11th victory of the season.
Although Bates lost the other seven matches, a number of them were quite close. In fact, four of the seven matches the Bobcats lost on Saturday went the full five games.
Senior captain Spencer Burt (Portland, Ore.) jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the No. 5 position, only to see Dylan Sweeney rally to win 3-2 (14-16, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9) in an extremely tight match.
Sophomore Coley Cannon (Greenwich, Conn.) fell behind 2-0 but rallied to win games three and four by counts of 11-9 and 11-8. But he lost 11-9 in the deciding game five to William Walker, falling by a count of 3-2 (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9) at the No. 6 position.
First-year Graham Bonnell (Southport, Conn.) also nearly pulled off a big comeback victory at the No. 8 position. He fell behind 2-0 but came roaring back to win games three and four by scores of 11-4 and 11-3 respectively. Nonetheless, Navy's Alex Patricolo was able to pull out game five 11-7 for a 3-2 (11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 3-11, 11-7) win over Bonnell.
Senior Carlos Ames (Williamstown, Mass.) played his second consecutive five-game match at team nationals, coming up just short by a count of 3-2 (11-13, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 11-8) to Sam McCartney at the No. 9 position.
No. 11 Navy 7, No. 15 Bates 2
College Squash Association Team Championships Consolation Semifinals
Feb. 18, 2017 at Cambridge, Mass.
1. Ahmed Hatata (B) def. Jack Herold (N) 11-6, 11-7, 11-9
2. Mahmoud Yousry (B) def. Senen Ubina (N) 11-8, 5-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9
3. Owen Davis (N) def. Darrius Campbell (B) 11-6, 11-4, 11-9
4. Michael Kacergis (N) def. Anirudh Nambiar (B) 11-8, 11-7, 11-4
5. Dylan Sweeney (N) def. Spencer Burt (B) 14-16, 4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-9
6. William Walker (N) def. Coley Cannon (B) 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9
7. James Kjorlien (N) def. McLeod Abbott (B) 11-9, 11-7, 12-10
8. Alex Patricolo (N) def. Graham Bonnell (B) 11-2, 11-5, 4-11, 3-11, 11-7
9. Sam McCartney (N) def. Carlos Ames (B) 11-13, 11-8, 5-11, 12-10, 11-8
