November 26, 2002

Squash

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This past weekend, both the men’s and women’s squash teams saw their first action of the regular season. On Saturday, the teams traveled to Philadelphia to take on Penn, with the women also playing Haverford.

The men started their Ivy campaign strong, losing only two matches to the Quakers en route to a 7-2 victory. The two losses were an aberration, attributed to “early season nerves” by head coach Scott Stoneburgh.

The women did not fare as well in their initial Saturday matches, losing 9-0 to Penn.

“The women were anxious for the match,” said Stoneburgh. “But Penn is much improved from last year.”

Showing that they too were improved, the women shook off the early defeat and trounced Haverford decisively, 9-0.

“The Ivy schedule is so tough that it’s good to have matches with these other schools,” said freshman Cory Warfield. “There’s more competition, and it helps us develop our game.”

Sunday found the Red in Princeton taking on the vaunted Tiger squash program. Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Princeton men were a formidable opponent for Cornell. Although it eventually came out on the losing end of things, the Red battled valiantly all afternoon, managing to extend three matches beyond three sets. Freshman Matt Greenberg and senior Tim Nagel were able to overcome their opponents, making the final tally 7-2 in favor of Princeton.

“That was the longest match I’ve ever played in my life,” said Greenberg. “It was the last match, so I got great support from the crowd with everyone watching.”

The women were not as successful, dropping all nine matches to the Tigers. The women held their heads high and took it as another learning experience on the road to future success.

“We lost, but we know we can play better,” said Warfield. “A lot of us went into the matches without much confidence because they’re such a strong team. But we are too, and they’re beatable.”

Both the men’s and women’s programs return to action versus Harvard on Dec. 7.

Archived article by Per Ostman