Philadelphia, PA — The Drexel Dragons capped their 2009-2010 season with an incredibly close 5-4 win over Vassar. Six of the matches went to five games, and two went to four games. That kind of win over an established varsity program is just one of the things helping to raise the Drexel’s club profile at the university and beyond.
The Dragons are lucky to have institutional support behind them. In January, Drexel completed building two international glass-backed courts with stadium-style seating, adding to the five narrow courts the team has used for training. The team is also planning to travel to the West Coast again this season as well as to Navy and Maine for round robins.
The Dragons are excited to welcome Drexel’s new president, John A. Fry, an avid squash player who joined the U.S. SQUASH Board of Directors in July. Fry comes to Drexel from Franklin & Marshall, where he was instrumental in recruiting John White as coach and launching Squash ACES, an urban squash enrichment program. Fry was also the founder of the Lancaster Country Day’s squash program, and his children are active players as well. In April, Fry was one of the many squash supporters who attended “The Rally,” an event hosted by the Drexel teams and Squash Smarts to honor Chase Lenfest, Molly Pierce and Eric Zillmer, benefactors of Squash Smarts.
Squash Smarts is a Philadelphia youth enrichment program that combines squash with academic tutoring, and members of the Drexel team are active volunteers. Individual players are involved in many other activities as well. Former captain Justin Burkholder is planning on attending medical school, and Christian O’Connor, a two-year veteran of the team, has toured the country playing guitar for his band.
Even though Drexel lost five players to graduation and two others to professional and academic commitments, it looks like the program will continue to grow and flourish.
2009-2010 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 4-9
Final Ranking: 39
Team Championships: 39th Overall; 7th in Chaffee Cup (E Division)
2010-2011 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Club
Head Coach: Guillermo Moronta
Returning Players from Team Championships: Kanv Narain (6); Kevin Rose (7), Adam Ryan (4; 2009-2010 Captain)
Graduates on Last Season’s Team Championships Roster: Vaibhav Arya (10); Justin Burkholder (5; 2009-2010 Captain); Auritro Chatterjee (1); Stefan Gagliano (9); Akshay Singh (3); other players not returning: Yash Shah (2) and Christian O’Connor (8)
Additions to the 2010-2011 Roster:
- Expected to play between 3 and 5: Mark Santerian and Vinayak Kalani
Expected to play between 6 and 9: Henry Meigs, Tyler Corkum, and Nakul Jain
Captains: Adam Ryan and Kevin Rose
Team Goals: Win the Chaffee Cup (“E” Division) and strengthen the presence of the sport of squash at Drexel
Key Matches: Navy B, Virginia, Georgetown, Washington, USC, and Cal-Berkeley
To read other team previews, please visit the 2010 – 2011 College Squash Preview Page.
