This afternoon, the Cornell men’s and women’s squash teams will make the short road-trip through the upstate New York country-side and meet up with foes Hobart and William Smith, respectively. Both sides hope to make short work of their lower-ranked opponents and continue building momentum for the upcoming national competition.
“I don’t want the guys getting cold for Brown [tomorrow],” said men’s coach Mark Devoy. “At the same time we are trying to keep them sharp, but we’ve also got to make sure that we’re focused now.”
The Red appears to hold the upper-hand on paper at least, as the seventh-ranked men and tenth-ranked women each enjoy a comfortable cushion on Hobart and William Smith.
“[The women] are confident going in,” said women’s coach Julee Devoy. “They are going to go out and try and achieve a positive result.”
The women come off a weekend in which they not only improved their record, but gained some much-needed confidence heading into the end of the season. After going 1-5 despite winning its first match of the season, the Red came away with an impressive 8-1 victory and a nail-biting 5-4 loss in two of its three matches the previous weekend. The team’s play has been highlighted by strong contributions from freshman Marin Barnes, as well as junior Allison Laycob, who went 2-1 in matches last weekend.
“Right now, the morale is good and the attitude is excellent,” said Devoy. “We’re looking forward to keeping the momentum going and finishing the season on a high note.”
The men head off to face Hobart still battling nagging injuries and illness caused by the relentless Ithaca winter. Junior Ben Bernstein will once again relinquish his No. 5 spot in the lineup due to sickness, and juniors Nick Raho and Matt Greenberg will be forced to play through injury. Despite these factors, the Red has not dropped a match to a lower-ranked opponent thus far and it does not plan on starting now. In addition, the play of substitutes sophomore Ted Hill and freshman Omar Mangalji have displayed the fact that the Red can create a winning lineup with any number of permutations in its rankings.
The Red begin play at seven tonight, leaving it with ample time to return and rest before the arrival of the Brown Bears tomorrow.
Archived article by Matt Gorman
Sun Staff Writer