Squash ends inaugural season with a bang at Nationals

Columbia squash finished its inaugural season as a varsity team on a high note, with each Lions squash player advancing to the second round at the National Individual Championships in Hanover, N.H. this weekend.

Sophomore Tony Zou, seeded at No. 41, recorded a big upset for Columbia, defeating No. 25 Trevor McGuinness from Penn in a surprisingly quick three-set match. The win gave Columbia its first-ever victory against an Ivy opponent in varsity program history. Zou faced another opponent from an Ivy school in the next round with the prospect of making it to the Round of 16. However, after climbing ahead two sets to none against No. 8 Ryan Dowd from Yale, Zou dropped the next three sets to end his season.

Another Columbia sophomore, Graham Miao, also notched a big win, defeating No. 18 Allan Lutz from Navy in a five-set match. Miao advanced to the second round after earning a 12-10 victory in the fifth set. In the next round, Miao lost in four sets to No. 15 Omar Sobhy.
On the women’s side, Columbia junior Liz Chu, seeded No. 25, made it to the second round, winning her first match by default. In the second round, she lost in three sets to No. 24 Shara Robertson from Mount Holyoke.

No. 36 freshman Katie Quan cruised past No. 29 Virginia Shannon from Middlebury in four sets. Quan also played Shannon earlier in the season, winning in a tougher five-set contest back in January.

Quan lost in the second round to No. 4 Emery Holton from Trinity.

With the conclusion of this weekend’s tournament, Columbia squash has completed its first season as a varsity team.