February 11, 2005

M. Squash Beats Hobart, Women Defeat Wm. Smith

Print More

Last night, the Cornell men’s and women’s squash teams traveled over snow-covered roads to meet up with Hobart and William Smith, respectively.

Both sides were able to put up strong efforts and leave with victories — a 7-2 win for the men and a 9-0 shut-out for the women.

“Tonight went exactly as planned for us,” said women’s head coach Julee Devoy. “[The women] got on the court, played very well and put the matches away quickly.”

After waiting for the men to leave the court, the women picked up their racquets and proceeded to make short work of William Smith. As the overall result indicates this was not one of the Red’s most highly contested matches and the team combined to drop only one set all match.

“Everyone is now looking forward to tomorrow and hoping the momentum can carry through,” Devoy said.

The men’s victory came in similar fashion, their only defeats resulting from a forfeit due to injury and a hard-fought five set loss by freshman Omar Mangalji. The Red was successful throughout the rest of the line-up; however, as it got three set victories from all but senior Mike Delany who took just an extra set to drop his opponent.

Cornell’s play was highlighted by freshman John McCarthy who fought the nerves of his first varsity match to emerge with a 3-0 win.

“[McCarthy] was a bit nervous at first, but he came to task and eventually put the match away,” said men’s head coach Mark Devoy. “He came away smiling and hasn’t stopped since.”

The Red will not be able to rest on the laurels of its most recent victories, as it will meet up with a hungry Brown team for its final match of the season this afternoon.

“[Brown] will be coming with all guns blazing,” Devoy said. “While we may look better on paper, if you get complacent, that’s when you get hammered.”

The Bears’ men’s side comes in ninth in the national rankings — only two spots below the Red. Positioning becomes crucial late in the season as the national tournament approaches and only the top eight spots play for the national title.

“There’s no need for a hiccup at this stage,” Devoy said.

If recent results are any indication, the Red should continue its winning ways through the end of the season as its only losses this winter have come at the hands of two of the best three teams in collegiate squash. Cornell will be lead by junior William Cheng and senior Mike Delany — each of whom have only suffered two losses in the Red’s losing causes this winter.

The women find themselves in a different situation — sitting 10th and facing the seventh-ranked Bears.

“They are going in confident,” Julie Devoy said. “We have a very positive frame of mind and are just going to go out and try to win.”

The women have reason to be confident, coming off two wins and a close loss in their last three outings. The wins came yesterday against William Smith and Feb. 5 in an 8-1 victory over Bowdoin College. The loss came at the hands of Bates College Feb. 6, when the Red fell by a 5-4 score.

Cornell begins play at 4:00 p.m. today at the Belkin International Squash Courts.

Archived article by Matt Gorman
Sun Staff Writer