HARTFORD, Conn. – The Amherst College men's squash team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2012 NESCAC Championship with an 8-1 win over Tufts University Friday evening at Trinity College's Kellner Squash Center.

The Lord Jeffs—seeded sixth in the tournament and ranked 20th in the nation—improved to 9-6 on the season, while the 11th-seeded Jumbos dropped to 6-7.

Amherst will return to action Saturday at 10:30 a.m. to take on third-seeded Middlebury, which began the weekend at number 12 in the national rankings. A complete bracket is available on the NESCAC website.

Matches three through nine were swept by Amherst in 3-0 fashion, while the top two were the closest of the evening. Tufts got its lone point when Zach Schweitzer came out on the winning end of three close games against Amherst senior co-captain Steve Severson (11-9, 11-9, 11-8).

The only matchup that required more than three games came in the top spot, where Amherst first-year Scott DeSantis outlasted Alex Nalle, 3-2. Nalle took the first game for the Jumbos by a score of 11-7, but DeSantis rallied to take the next two, 11-6 and 11-7. Nalle came back with a convincing 11-1 win in the fourth game, but the Amherst rookie pulled out the 11-9 victory in the final frame.

No. 6 Amherst def. No. 11 Tufts, 8-1
1. Scott DeSantis (A) def. Alex Nalle (T), 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9)
2. Zach Schweitzer (T) def. Steve Severson (A), 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-8)
3. David Kerr (A) def. Henry Miller (T), 3-0 (11-3, 11-9, 11-5)
4. Charles Loesch-Quintin (A) def. Michael Abboud (T), 3-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-3)
5. Todd Lavine (A) def. Jeremy Ho (T), 3-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-6)
6. Max Kardon (A) def. Gordon Silverman (T), 3-0 (11-3, 11-7, 11-7)
7. Rodrigo Miranda (A) def. Hugo Meggitt (T), 3-0 (13-11, 11-7, 11-7)
8. Alex Southmayd (A) def. Andrew Meleney (T), 3-0 (11-4, 11-2, 11-3)
9. Matt Arnold (A) def. Elliot Kardon (T), 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-6)