PHILADELPHIA — No. 8-seeded Columbia (7-7) posted victories in the last seven matches to defeat the No. 9-seeded Cornell men's squash team (6-9) by a 7-2 score on the opening day of the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championships at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center on Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior Aaron Liang (No. 1) and freshman Youssef Sarhan (No. 4) secured victories in four games, giving Cornell an early 2-0 lead over Columbia.

After alternating wins of 11-7, Liang claimed victories of 11-8 and 11-4, providing the Big Red with an early advantage. Sarhan jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Franklyn Smith with victories of 11-9 and 14-12 before losing the third game, which required extra points, 13-11. By avoiding a decisive fifth game, Sarhan emphatically finished the match with an 11-3 win.
 
Columbia won all seven remaining matches, solidifying its place in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Penn on Friday afternoon. Three of the Lions' victories were hard-fought five-game contests against seniors Rohan Iyer (No. 5), Tanay Punjabi (No. 6), and freshman Roman Bicknell (No. 8). Out of the four other wins for Columbia, three were secured in four games. The only three-game victory came from Paarth Ambani at the No. 9 position.
 
RESULTS
No. 1: Aaron Liang def. Shaurya Bawa, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 11-4.
No. 2: Yusuf Sheikh def. Arnaav Sareen, 6-11, 11-5, 11-8, 11-6.
No. 3: Arhan Chandra def. Syan Singh, 11-13, 11-1, 11-7, 11-5.
No. 4: Youssef Sarhan def. Franklyn Smith, 11-9, 14-12, 11-13, 11-3.
No. 5: Imad Athar def. Rohan Iyer, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 12-10.
No. 6: Zach Nam def. Tanay Punjabi, 7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 11-4.
No. 7: Thomas Soltanian def. Shreemann Raghavan, 11-4, 5-11, 11-2, 11-6.
No. 8: Laszlo Godde def. Roman Bicknell, 12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 11-4, 11-5.
No. 9: Paarth Ambani def. Arnav Tevatia, 11-6, 15-13, 12-10.

UP NEXT
Cornell will compete against No. 12-seeded Tufts (11-8) in the Potter Cup consolation semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m., also at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center. The matches will be streamed live on YouTube and held on courts 11 through 13.
 
Tufts lost to No. 5-seeded Virginia, 9-0, on Tuesday afternoon in the round of 16 of the Potter Cup bracket. Dylan Moran (No. 4), Maxwell Velazquez (No. 5), and Nathan Rosenzweig (No. 6) each fell in four games, making them the only Jumbos players who did not lose their matches in straight games.
 
SCOUTING TUFTS
Tufts enters Friday's match with an 11-8 overall record, having lost its last two matches. In addition to Thursday's setback, the Jumbos fell to Trinity, 8-1, in the championship game of the NESCAC Championship on Feb. 9.
 
Jared Chin has won a team-leading 11 matches on the season (11-7), serving as one of four Tufts players with a double-digit win total, joined by Aarav Gill (10-9), Kerwin Teh (10-8), and Ali Tarek (10-4).
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH TUFTS
Friday marks the 12th meeting between Cornell and Tufts. The Big Red has a 10-1 record against the Jumbos, having won the last 10 matches.

This will be the second time the teams meet at the CSA National Team Championships, with their only previous encounter occurring on Feb. 17, 2006, in Princeton, N.J., when the Big Red achieved a first-round clean sweep on the way to securing the Hoehn Cup title.
 
During Cornell's 10-game winning streak against Tufts, the Big Red secured at least seven victories in each matchup. Tufts' only win over Cornell occurred in the first meeting between the two programs on Jan. 24, 1981, where the Jumbos notched an 8-1 home victory.
 
In the most recent meeting between the programs, on Dec. 7 in Medford, Mass., senior Arnaav Sareen and sophomore Syan Singh registered three-game victories to aid Cornell to its 8-1 victory.
 
Senior Aaron Liang (No. 1), Rohan Iyer (No. 6), and Shreemann Raghavan (No. 7) posted victories in four games for the Big Red, while freshman Youssef Sarhan (No. 4), senior Tanay Punjabi (No. 5), and sophomore Arnav Tevatia (No. 9) came away with victories in five games.