Charlotte Invitational

10/28/2018

The UNC Men’s squash team traveled to Charlotte, NC this past Sunday to take on divisional opponents at the Charlotte Invitational at the Charlotte Squash Club for an early season bout. The team had four freshmen in its lineup: Andrew Hollinrake, Brooks Jarrett, Tejas Pruthi, and Ali Khan, all of whom got the opportunity to play in their first college match. The team played well for an early season tournament and looks to improve throughout the rest of this season.

The teams present were Davidson, Duke, Washington University in St. Louis, NC State, William and Mary, and Richmond.

UNC gained a key win in their first match of the day versus Davidson. Matches against Davidson were won by Chris Gsell, George Schmidt, Ali Khan, Andrew Hollinrake, and TJ Pruthi. Team number two Chris Gsell played very well in his Davidson match as well as throughout the tournament. Fun Fact: Ali Khan is a Charlotte native and had the opportunity to play on his hometown courts.

In their second test of the tournament, UNC faced NC State’s small, yet talented four-man team in a scrimmage. The NC State match was a scrimmage compared to a match due to college regulations stating that there must be at least seven players on a competition team.

In UNC’s final match of the day, they faced Washington University in St. Louis. Unfortunately, UNC lost to a talent rich, deep roster. UNC had standout performances by George Schmidt, who played a fantastic game versus a tough opponent, and team number one Henry Tilghman. Tilghman’s match was full of seemingly impossible shots that were executed in a manner exclusive to experienced players.

UNC looks forward to its next matches at UVA on November 10th versus UVA and University of Richmond.