Both teams win against Dartmouth

The squash season has officially started: Our women beat Dartmouth 9-0 last night while the men’s team won their match 7-2. While some of you came down to see the matches live, we know that many of you were watching the online stream. Thank you for all the support!

The women didn’t drop any games despite playing without their #1 Amanda Sobhy and #2 Haley Mendez. The whole squad was ready for the challenge, including our two freshmen, Alyssa Mehta and Sue Ann Yong, who played their first official varsity matches and walked away with comfortable wins. The women will have tougher matches ahead in January but it was a good kickoff to the season.

The men’s team got off to a bit of a rusty start with #9 Peter Janulis and #8 Sachin Patel losing their matches. Dartmouth almost took a 3-0 lead as #6 Tyler Olson was down 9-5 in the fifth game. The senior co-captain fought his way back though and eventually took the fifth 11-9. Olson’s win shifted the match momentum and after #7 Sam Goldberg won his match in four, the rest of team didn’t drop any games. The match was definitely a wake-up call for the men who will face #2 St. Lawrence and #5 Rochester this coming weekend.

We’ll keep you updated on our progress this weekend. While we don’t know if there’s online streaming at either venue, you can follow the matches live on Twitter (https://twitter.com/harvardsquash).

Match recaps and results on GoCrimson.com:

No. 1 Women’s Squash Makes Quick Work of No. 11 Dartmouth, 9-0
http://gocrimson.com/sports/wsquash/2014-15/releases/20141202q9czs2

No. 1 Men’s Squash Defeats No. 11 Dartmouth, 7-2
http://gocrimson.com/sports/msquash/2014-15/releases/20141202z6zqtq

What else has been going on?

Amanda Sobhy ’15 didn’t play against Dartmouth because she is representing Team USA at the Women’s World Team Championship. USA secured their place in the quarterfinals yesterday with a 3-0 win over Canada.

http://www.ussquash.com/team-usa-beats-canada/

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GoCrimson.com published the season preview videos last week. Click on the links below to hear Head Coach Mike Way’s thoughts about the teams and the season:

Women’s preview
http://gocrimson.com/sports/wsquash/2014-15/videos/20141124-3pac75nm

Men’s preview
http://gocrimson.com/sports/msquash/2014-15/videos/20141124-xo094avb

Upcoming matches:

Dec 6
Men vs. St. Lawrence @ St. Lawrence – 12pm

Dec 7
Men vs. Rochester @ Rochester – 12pm

While the men’s team is on the road this coming weekend, the women’s team and the men’s JV team will not be traveling. They will play other teams at Harvard. If you’re in the area, here’s the match schedule:

Dec 6
JV Men vs. Brandeis – 12pm (scrimmage)
JV Men vs. Univ. of Toronto – 2pm (scrimmage)
Women vs. Brown – 4pm (scrimmage)

Dec 7
JV Men vs. Northeastern – 1pm (scrimmage)
Women vs. Wellesley – 1pm (scrimmage)
JV Men vs. Boston College – 2:30pm (scrimmage)
Women vs. Boston College – 2:30pm (official)