The ninth-ranked women’s squash team won both matches of its season-opening double header against Mount Holyoke College and Tufts UniversitySaturday, while the 16th-ranked men fell narrowly to Navy before beating Tufts in its first competitions of the year.
The women dispensed with both of their opponents easily — they won eight of nine matches against Mt. Holyoke (1-2) and all nine against Tufts (2-4). Against the Jumbos, no Bear lost a single first-to-11 game, and Bruno won each of the nine matches three games to none.
The men did not fare quite as well, falling 5-4 to No. 15 Navy (9-0) before dominating Tufts (1-7). The Bears won 3-0 in each of the eight games they played against Tufts, but the Jumbos brought only eight players, so they forfeited the ninth match, bringing the final score to 9-0.
“We were a tiny bit rusty, because it’s one of the first matches of the season, but I think both squads prepared very well and were ready to play — played hard and played well,” said Head Coach Stuart leGassick.
Dori Rahbar ’14, a Staff Writer for The Herald, said she was happy with the way her teammates took care of business. “I think everyone played really clean, competitive squash,” she said.
Despite his team’s resounding win over Tufts, Foster Hoff ’16.5 was more focused on the loss to Navy. “We lost a tough one,” he said. “Sometimes the opponent just plays a little bit better.”
“We just came up short in two or three matches,” leGassick said. “It could have gone either way, but I think they just played slightly better than we did.”
With their first two matches of the season in the books, the teams now turn their attention to the rest of the year. The top-ten women “want to retain their … position” in the rankings, leGassick said. Rahbar was optimistic, saying she expected the team to “do really well.”
“We have a pretty young team, and a very deep team,” she said.
For the men’s part, the loss to Navy means they will face an uphill battle this year. “It’s a bit tougher having lost to Navy … but the season’s very young. There’s still room for upsets on our part,” leGassick said.
Hoff said he saw the loss as just another reason to keep working. “Today was a tough loss to a team that was ranked just one ahead of us, but I think with this loss, we’ll be really motivated to do better going forward,” he said.
The men return to the court Dec. 6 against the University of Western Ontario (7-0), while the women will play again Dec. 7 against Drexel (2-2).
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