Courtesy of UR Athletics
The annual Price-Bullington Invitational, held at the Country Club of Virginia in the state’s capital city of Richmond, consistently draws some of the nation’s top Division I squash players. This year’s tournament, held Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4, featured 14 competitors ranked nationally in the top 37. Among the participants were two UR seniors, Andres Duany and Adam Perkiomaki.
Duany, who was ranked sixth in the country at the end of last season and seeded fourth in the invitational, faced off against Princeton University’s Dylan Ward in the first round. The match went smoothly for the Yellowjacket, who cruised to a win in straight sets, 11-1, 11-5, 11-4.
In the second round of play, Duany drew Bates College’s Ahmed Abdel Khalek. The two battled for all five sets, with Khalek eventually taking the match 11-1, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-2.
Perkiomaki’s draw was not kind, as he had to take on second seed Ramit Tandon of Columbia University in his opening round match. Despite his best efforts, Perkiomaki fell in straight sets, 11-4, 11-7, 11-4.
With this first round loss, Perkiomaki was moved into the consolation draw, where he would play Brandon McLaughlin of Harvard University, ranked 14th in the country by the College Squash Association. The Ivy-Leaguer would prove to have the upper hand on the day winning the match 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 and ending UR’s weekend.
After a week off, the men’s squash team will officially start their season on Saturday, Nov. 17. They will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. in search of a sixth consecutive Liberty League title.
Shapiro is a member of the class of 2016.
