Hobbled by injuries and missing three key players, a depleted men's team exceeded expectations at the annual Yale round robin Jan. 20-22. Against #4 Yale in the first match of the weekend, however, the Cardinal did not look sharp. The Cardinal, heavily favored over the Elis, could not find their strokes, and were upset 9-0. After falling in three games, the usually abrasive "Boy" George "Melissa Wonton" Kwon took the defeat in stride. "We got smoked," he said. "But it was a good experience."
After the match, the team split up in search of food. Kwon had by now forgotten his thrashing and began reminiscing about Seated Meals and Evensongs at St. Paul's. Moments later, he slapped Stella's hand away from his sausage pizza, clearly forgetting the line in the St. Paul's Covenant which exhorts its students to show "generosity as demonstrated sacrifice." Hypocrisy aside, George was delighted to run into not one, not two, but three Paulies in the 80-foot walk back to the car.
The team slept in the next day, and gathered at the courts in the early afternoon for its 2:30 match against Summers Division rival Colby. The absence of Andrew Burmon, "Baby" Ned Henningsen and Joe Kirscher was felt, and the Cardinal fell behind early and never recovered. "Honest" Abe Chiang turned in sparkling performance, however, coming back from 0-2 to win in a five game marathon match. Aaron "Face-Puncher" Ligon also managed to top his opponent, but the team still fell 7-2. After the game, Kwon was again gracious in defeat. "We got smoked," he said. "But it was good practice."
After a break for dinner, the squad returned to Brady Squash Center for an evening bout against #40 Northeastern. The squad eked out a 9-0 win and then retired to the Omni for the weekend. No one on the team went out to a bar or frat party, and all the players were in bed and asleep by 1 a.m.
On Sunday morning, the Cardinal faced off against #30 Rochester. Down three men and battling fatigue, the squad knew it would be close. The match started out slowly as the team dropped the #6 and #9 seeds and fell behind 2-1. But clutch wins by #2 Stella, #5 Chiang, and #8 Helppie-Schmieder put the Cardinal ahead for good. After the match, George was unavailable for comment.