Larries lick CHA racquetmen

by TOM UTESCHER

A very good Chestnut Hill Academy squash team ran into a true scholastic powerhouse in the sport when Lawrenceville School paid a visit last Tuesday.

Led by Mexico's Mauricio Sanchez, currently the number one player in the world in the Under-19's, the Larries swept the host Blue Devils, 7-0, and won an exhibition match between the number eights, as well.

Previously, CHA had opened the season with a 7-0 victory of its own over Lower Merion High School, and on December 2 the locals defeated Franklin & Marshall College, 5-4. The individual winners against F&M were juniors Brooks Russell (#1) and Pat Davis (#5), freshman Sam Wetherill (#7), and juniors Dave DiDonato (#8) and Derek Winter (#9).

In the Lawrenceville match, a number of Chestnut Hill players were at least able to extend their bouts past the three-game minimum. The most tenacious was Davis, who lost a pair of 9-3 games to visiting sophomore Steve Preefer but then rallied to win the next two at 9-6 before Preefer prevailed in the fifth, 9-1.

At number three, where two juniors clashed, Nils Mattson won out over Nick Pearson of the Blue Devils, 5-9, 9-3, 9-5, 9-4, and in the sixth spot visiting junior Doug DiSesa overcame CHA sophomore Tyler Stout, 5-9, 9-3, 9-6, 9-3. Ian Holton of the host team met fellow 11^th grader Ethan Buchsbaum in the seventh match, where the latter won, 9-1, 9-3, 8-10, 9-4, and Lawrenceville sophomore Porter Drake took the number four contest, 9-5, 9-2, 9-4, over Blue Devils junior Bob Goldman.

In the number eight exhibition bout, sophomore Matt Marchisotto of the Larries topped freshman Sam Wetherill, 9-2, 9-5, 9-6.

Two seniors converged at number two, where the Lawrenceville roster featured another import, Egyptian standout Hesham Elhalaby. He cruised in the first game, 9-2, but in the second CHA's Bobby Dickey, hanging in through pure hustle, got off to a 6-3 lead. Elhalaby's precisely aimed shots pulled him out of the jam; he won the game at 10-9 and went on to capture the third round, 9-1.

On the next court, CHA's Russell was the man in the hot seat as he took on the world's top junior player, Sanchez. Superb shot placement was again on display, and the Mexican was also prone to using head fakes to misdirect his opponent. In the second game Russell did actually get to serve when a low shot by Sanchez hit the top of the tin, but the Larries' top gun never gave up a point as he won three 9-0 games.