The momentum from recent matches vs. Pingry and Brunswick, then, carried its way into Poly's match with Ivy League rival, Riverdale, ranked # 23 in the country. On paper, Riverdale looked to be the far superior team with wins over many teams that Poly had lost to over the season including Hackley, Horace Mann, and Packer. With that said, the Bluedevils put together their best performance of the season, held their heads up high, and played with the same intensity, postive attitude, and team support that they had demonstrated in their matches with Pingry. Many of the lessons the team learned at
Brunswick were put into action and the Bluedevils took an early 3-0 match lead with wins at the # 7, 6, and 5 slots from Sam Chudner, Ben Rosenblum, and Rafael Gamba. Rosenblum, in particular, continued his individual success as Mr. Consistency and made the statement that Poly needed to carry its way towards the finish line. With these early leads, Riverdale battled back, but, the leadership, resilience, and maturity of the Blue Devils playing on their home courts could not be denied.
Senior Co-Captain Brendan Harney, playing in his last home match of his careeer at Poly, put together the best squash of his season and nearly defeated a very strong Riverdale # 2, P. Janulis, before losing 3-2.
The leadership of Harney, however, encouraged his teammate, Co-Captain Tim Lasusa, to play the best match of his career. Lasusa, playing the # 1 U 15 player in the nation, Jordan Brail, played the most consistent, solid, and focused match of his life to upstage Brail and win the match 3-2. The maturity and poise of Lasusa, playing in his first season in the # 1 slot continues to blossom and he is quickly becoming one of the best players in the HS ranks.
The success and improvement of the Blue Devils in defeating Riverdale gives the team tons of confidence as it prepares for High School Nationals starting tomorrow. The team will face Trinity-Pawling at 12 PM to start its run towards winning its division.
It has been a tremendously exciting and rewarding season and we're looking forward to a great weekend of squash at the High School Nationals.
Results: Poly Prep 4, Riverdale 3
T. Lasusa (PP) def. J. Brail (Riverdale) 11-5, 11-13, 11-5, 11-13, 11-7
P. Janulis (Riverdale) def. B. Harney (PP) 7-11, 6-11, 11-4, 3, 3
J Bradner (Riverdale) def. H. BIlger (PP) 11-1, 4, 4
Z Michas (Riverdale) def. N Johnson (PP) 10-12, 11-8, 7, 3
R Gamba (PP) def. A Horwitz (Riverdale) 13-11, 11-7, 4
B Roseblum (PP) def. S Reichenstein (Riverdale) 11-8, 8, 5
S Chudner (PP) def. A Suchman (Riverdale) 11-4, 8, 0
