Both the men’s and women’s squash teams faced stiff competition this weekend as they competed in the Yale round robin and against Brown.
The men’s squash team fell to both Trinity and Yale on Saturday before getting a hard-earned win against the Bears. The women’s team earned a split at Yale, taking a win from Bowdoin before falling to the Bulldogs, and then suffered another defeat against Brown on Sunday.
On the first day of competition at Yale, the No. 7 Cornell men’s team fell 9-0 to No. 1 Trinity, losing all matches in straight sets. With the defeat the Red fell to a record of 1-5 and Trinity maintained its perfect record of 7-0.
On the second day of the round robin, the Red again suffered a 9-0 loss, this time against No. 4 Yale. The Red lost seven matches in straight sets, but two of the matches went past three sets.
Playing in the No. 3 spot, senior Matt Greenberg played a tough match against Ho Ming Chiu in a five set match. Chiu won the first set, 9-3, before Greenberg battled back, winning the next two sets, 9-4 and 9-7. Chui responded by winning the next two sets to win the match.
Senior Nick Raho, playing in the fifth spot, went to four sets before losing to Moshe Sarfaty.
To finish up the weekend, the teams traveled to Providence, R.I., to face Brown. The men’s team pulled out the win, defeating Brown 5-4.
“We just squeaked through against Brown. They came out strong and it went down to the wire. Overall, I am quite pleased with the weekend,” said men’s head coach Mark Devoy.
The women’s squash team faced Bowdoin first at the Yale round robin, defeating the Polar Bears, 6-3.
“It went very well, everyone put in a strong performance. The one’s we won, we won convincingly. It was a good first match back from the break,” said women’s head coach Julee Devoy.
Five players won in three straight sets – freshman Alex Cornett, senior co-captain Cory Warfield, sophomore Mairin Barnes, senior Allison Laycob and freshman Alix Watson.
“I thought it went really well. It was a good match to start off with,” Warfield said.
The performance against Bowdoin improved the team record to 2-3 on the season. However, the next day, the Red faced No. 1 Yale, and suffered a 9-0 loss in straight sets.
“We are no opposition for them at this point. They are very strong, but the girls played well against them,” Devoy said.
Finally, the women’s team traveled with the men’s team to Providence, R.I., to play Brown. The Red lost in a close match against the Bears, falling 8-1.
Although the Red had defeated the Bears earlier this season, Brown had its No. 2 and No. 5 players return from abroad before the rematch, making for a stronger opponent.
“Everybody had really good matches, everyone was really into it. They were just a little bit stronger, but it was not a total blowout,” Warfield said.
Archived article by Catherine Bourque Sun Staff Writer