HADLEY, Mass. -- First-year
Dennis Welte is the NESCAC Men's Squash Rookie of the Year and senior captain
Alec Spiro is a first team All-NESCAC selection for the third time in his career, as announced Wednesday by the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
Welte (Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is also a second team All-NESCAC selection, having played the vast majority of the season at the No. 2 position for the Bobcats. He is the first Bates men's squash player to earn NESCAC Rookie of the Year since four-time All-American
Ahmed Hatata '17 in 2014.
Welte posted a record of 7-9 for the Bobcats this season. He won six of his final 11 matches -- including two of his three matches at the College Squash Association Divisional Championships -- where Bates advanced to the Summers Cup final for the first time since 2016.
"Dennis raises the bar for everybody because his laser interest in excellence is just there, and the whole room becomes focused on that," outgoing interim head squash coach
Ricky Silbersher said. "He warms up with intensity, and when he plays, it's the same. Everything he does on the court has an absolute commitment; all his movements and his shots have a strong intention to them. That was exciting for me as a coach to work with and to see. I know that it was good for his teammates because they voted for him to be one of the captains next season."
Spiro (Portland, Ore.) is the men's squash program's first three-time first team All-NESCAC selection since Hatata (who earned the honor four times), as once again Spiro played all season at the No. 1 position for Bates. He posted a record of 5-12 and earned a spot at the CSA Individual National Championships for the third straight season. Spiro finished his career on a high note, winning two of his three matches at the CSA Divisional Championships, including a 3-0 (11-4, 11-6, 11-8) sweep of his opponent from Chatham in the Summers Cup final. He finishes his Bates squash career with a record of 32-42.
"Alec struggled with an ankle injury for most of the season, and I know that it tortured him, because his expectations for himself are so high," Silbersher said. "But he figured it out, he got out of his own way, and for the final match he really worked out how to streamline all his incredible skills so that they just flowed. He made his opponent at No. 1 seem like he didn't even belong on the same court. It was quietly satisfying to just know that he did that for himself. He made that happen. And that's his final statement for college squash. He deserves that."
