GET A LODHA THIS: Young Squad Fighting For Pride

On February 7, 2007, the Harvard men’s squash team almost proved that, “Impossible is Nothing."

Facing a top-ranked Trinity squad that hadn’t lost since 1998—a run that included nine consecutive national championships—the No. 2 Crimson asserted itself on its home courts, matching the Bantams swing for swing. Sweeping to wins at flights No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6, Harvard tied the match at 4-4, with then-sophomore Niko Hrdy having the chance to give his team a historic victory.

Though Hrdy couldn’t come through, losing to Trinity’s Supreet Singh, notice had been served: Harvard would be a legitimate title contender at the CSA Team Championships later that month.

The Crimson dropped another nailbiter, this time to Princeton, in the CSA semifinals, failing to set up a much-anticipated rematch with the Bantams in the final. Nevertheless, Harvard players flexed their muscle at Individuals, with Ilan Oren ’07 making it to the final four and Siddharth Suchde ’07 capturing the national title.

Fast-forward a year, and things look a little different.

With the graduation of the Class of 2007, the Crimson lost seven players, including Suchde, who is now playing professionally, and Oren, who did not drop a single contest in dual-match play all season.

Moreover, this year’s squad has no seniors, leaving Hrdy, junior captain Verdi DiSesa, and sophomore Colin West, who plays at No. 1, as its only players with significant experience playing collegiate squash.

“The team this year has a very different dynamic,” Oren says. “We lost a great amount of talent…The guys know they’re in a rebuilding year.”

It’s certainly not easy to replace a class like the Class of 2007. Not only was Suchde one of the greatest players to play on the Barnaby Courts, but players like Oren, Jason DeLierre ’07, Mihir Sheth ’07, and Garnett Booth ’07 regularly produced wins for the Crimson.

Producing a recruiting class with that much talent in one year is quite the challenge—especially when schools like Trinity get first pickings and don’t have to deal with as intensely rigorous academic standards as Harvard’s coaches do.

“I’m jealous,” Oren says. “I’d love to have the same kind of players lining up to play for Harvard that want to play at Trinity.”

“I don’t think we’ll be getting a player like Sidd in the next couple of years,” he adds.

Indeed, the Crimson has felt the absence of premier players like Suchde. Despite holding a No. 3 ranking, Harvard laid two goose eggs against No. 1 Trinity and No. 2 Princeton, with the Tigers and Bantams combining for 17 3-0 sweeps in those 18 matches. Only DiSesa even won a single game in those two contests, losing 3-1 at No. 3 against Trinity’s Manek Mathur.

Nevertheless, there is a sense of optimism surrounding the team. The players, with the knowledge that this season would be a transitional one, have been able to play under less pressure, allowing them to push their limits. After all, against opponents like Trinity and Princeton, they have nothing to lose.

This is perhaps most obvious at No. 1, where sophomore Colin West has risen to the challenge of leading his team, putting up a 6-2 record—with his only defeats coming against the Tigers and the Bantams—despite playing against many opponents with more experience.

“The pressure for anybody playing at No. 1 comes from the knowledge that you’re going to be competing against the best players in the country,” Suchde writes in an e-mail from Kuwait, where he is participating in a tournament. “But, even as a freshman, Colin dealt with pressure much better than many upperclassmen on the team. I’m sure this year will be no different.”

In fact, several young players have stepped in to fill the gaping holes in the Harvard lineup. Freshman Richard Hill has been a fixture at No. 2, winning four of seven matches. Fellow rookie J. Reed Endresen has taken all four of the matches he has played at the third and fourth flights. And freshman Eliot Buchanan and sophomore Alex Lavoie have shown promise in limited action, putting up .500 records.

According to head coach Satinder Bajwa, this is a testament to the team’s spirit.

“In terms of the caliber of the team, yes, we don’t have as strong a team [as last year’s team],” he says. “But we have a team that is together and that can try to do the best it can. Sometimes, the inner strength outweighs the talent.”

Although the Crimson heads into the CSA Team Championships today on a disappointing note, having dropped a 7-2 decision to rival Yale on Wednesday night, the fourth-seeded host may have the fight to surprise some opponents. Harvard seems to have come to embrace the underdog role—but it will have to do more than that to succeed on this big a stage.

“Probably one of the hardest things to deal with, for a young team, is the pressure associated with ‘big’ matches,” Suchde says. “Playing in front of 1000-plus people can be quite intimidating, and if you’re not accustomed to it, the occasion can get the better of you.”

Regardless of how the Crimson fares this weekend, the team is certainly one to watch in the future. One of the silver linings of having a team with no seniors is that no players will be graduating, and if Bajwa’s staff can bring in one or two key recruits, this team can only be better next year.

Still, it’s hard to imagine this squad ending Trinity’s reign anytime soon unless it can land players like Suchde and Oren. In the world of collegiate squash, while coaching and training can have an impact, it ultimately comes down to the talent of the players on the roster. Even a year’s worth of intense training won’t be enough to erase all of the 26 zeroes Harvard put up on the scoreboard against the Bantams last Wednesday.

In the meantime, all the Crimson can do this weekend is follow Suchde’s advice: “Fight like hell and give their best!”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.