Following a one-month hiatus from competition, the 16th-ranked Navy squash team (11-2) returns to action on Saturday when it travels to London, Ontario, Canada to square off against #14 Western (3-5). Action is set for 1:00 pm at the London Squash Club.
Navy rookie Wenqing Tang enjoyed a success start to his collegiate career by pacing the Mids over their first 13 matches of the season with an 11-2 record, including a 9-2 mark as Navy’s #2 player on the ladder. Tighe Mullarkey and Hudson Poirier finished the first half of the season with identical 10-2 records.
Earlier this year Matt Wang became the 24th player in program history to reach the 60-win milestone and with 61-career wins, he stands 22nd on Navy’s all-time wins list. A win on Saturday would give him 62 wins, tying Gavin Morrison (2001-05) for 21st on the wins list.
Alexander Orr is also looking for a milestone win as he heads into the match with a 49-25 career mark in what is his third season at Navy.
Saturday’s ladder will look slightly different with rookie Eli Levy earning the opportunity to play at the #8 spot. He defeated both Hudson Poirier and Michael Tierney Jr. in challenge matches this past week.
This Week’s Schedule
Saturday
1:00 pm – #16 Navy at #14 Western // London Squash Club
How to Follow
• A live scoring link for all of Navy’s matches will be available on the Navy Athletics website (squash schedule page) and via Club Locker.
• There is NO live stream available for Saturday’s match
Navy’s Projected Lineup
Player (Yr / Hometown / 2024-25 record / career record)
1 | Matt Wang (Sr / Malvern, Pa. / 6-5 / 61-46)
2 | Wenqing Tang (Fr / Villanova, Pa. / 11-2 / 11-2)
3 | Alexander Orr (Jr / Haverford, Pa. / 9-2 / 49-25)
4 | Matt Kang (So / Malvern, Pa. / 7-5 / 20-18)
5 | Lucas Spiro (Sr / Buffalo, N.Y. / 7-4 / 52-49)
6 | Tighe Mullarkey (So, Jr / Locust Valley, N.Y. / 10-2 / 38-16)
7 | Ramsay Killinger (So / Wyndmoor, Pa. / 9-3 / 27-14)
8 | Eli Levy (Fr / Williamstown, Mass. / 5-0 / 5-0)
9 | Michael Tierney Jr. (Fr / Berwyn, Pa. / 9-3 / 9-3)
— | Hudson Poirier (Fr / Wellesley, Mass. / 10-2 / 10-2)
— | Holden Woodward (So / Richmond, Va. / 5-0 / 8-25)
Inj | Avinash Uppuluri (Fr / Short Hills, N.J. / 0-0 / 0-0)
Inj | Sean Wu (So / Princeton, N.J. / 1-0 / 16-13)
Weekly Rewind
• Navy was last in action the weekend of Nov. 22-24, earning victories in two of its three matches before observing a nearly six-week break for exams and the holidays.The Mids opened the trip to Maine with a 6-3 win over #23 Bates (0-1), narrowly dropped a 5-4 decision to #18 Colby (1-0) the following afternoon and outlasted #24 Bowdoin (0-1) for a 5-4 win to close out the three-day trip.
Bates / Colby / Bowdoin Highlights
• This was a rare trip for the Mids to the state of Maine, as Navy had played both Bates and Bowdoin on their respective home courts just five previous times, while it was only the third time the Mids had played at Colby
• Each of Navy’s three matches over the weekend marked the season opener for the host school
• Six of the nine players on Navy’s ladder won at least two of the three matches, including Michael Tierney Jr. (Berwyn, Pa.), who put together a flawless road performance at the #8 position. He won his first-two matches of the trip by 3-0 sweeps, but Bowdoin’s Joseph French push Tierney Jr. to five games. French jumped out to a 2-1 lead, but the Navy rookie won game four 11-8 to extend the match. Tierney Jr. needed extra points, but secured the win in the fifth by a 12-10 decision.
• Alexander Orr (Jr / Haverford, Pa.) had an exceptionally challenging weekend as all three of his matches went extra games. He opened the weekend with a 3-2 win over Bates’ Ali Labeeb. He found himself in a 2-1 deficit, but fought his was back to win games four (12-10) and five (11-3) to earn the win. Meanwhile, his lone setback came against Colby’s Carlos Zendejas in five games. This time Orr led 2-1, but was unable to hold on as Zendejas won games four (11-4) and five (12-10) to steal the win from Orr. Finally, Orr needed four games to get by Bowdoin’s Aryan Singh.
• Tighe Mullarkey (So / Locust Valley, N.Y.) also came up just shy of going 3-0 for the weekend. Mullarkey cruised in his first-two matches of the weekend, recording 3-0 sweeps in both matches. He pushed Bowdoin’s William Maschler to five games, but Maschler claimed an 11-3 win in the fifth to claim victory.
• In addition to Orr and Mullarkey earning a pair of wins on the weekend, so, too, did Wenqing Tang (Fr / Villanova, Pa.), Ramsay Killinger (So / Wyndmoor, Pa.) and Hudson Poirier (Fr / Wellesley, Mass.).
• Heading into the break, Tang leads the team in the wins column with an 11-2 record, while both Mullarkey and Poirier have reached double digits with 10 wins apiece.
• Orr, meanwhile, will look add his name to the 50-win milestone when action resumes on Jan. 4 when the Mids travel to Toronto, Ontario to play at #14 Western
About the Opponent
• Western has put together a 3-5 record to date, earning wins over #22 St. Lawrence (9-0), #15 Rochester (6-3) and #18 MIT (6-3). Its losses have been against undefeated and top-ranked Penn (9-0), #11 Williams (6-3), #9 Cornell (9-0), #6 Harvard (8-1) and #10 Tufts (6-3).
About the Series
• Western has won 12 of the 17 matches against Navy in what is a relatively new series.
• Western won the inaugural meeting against the Mids 8-1 on Feb. 23, 1992, meeting in the ISA Championship in New Haven, Conn.
• 13 of the 17 matches have been played at a neutral site (H: 2-1 / A: 0-1 / N: 3-10)
• Saturday’s match will mark just the second time the two programs have met at Western. Navy dropped a tough 5-4 decision in London, Ontario on Jan. 7, 2017.
• Navy’s last win in the series was a 5-4 decision in Annapolis on Nov. 10, 2018.
• Western has won each of the last five meetings.
What’s Ahead
• Navy returns home the weekend of Jan. 10 to play host to #17 Amherst (Jan. 10 / 3:30 pm), #20 Middlebury (Jan. 11 / 4:00 pm) and #11 Williams (12:00 pm).
### Go Navy ###
