HomeArticlesNotre Dame: 2010 - 2011 Men's College Squash Season Preview

Notre Dame: 2010 – 2011 Men’s College Squash Season Preview

South Bend, IN — The Fighting Irish were winless coming into their second Men’s National Team Championships with a full nine-player squad. All of their losses had been by a wide margin, but the Irish’s luck began to turn at Nationals.

After narrowly losing to Bucknell in the second round, Notre Dame edged out Charleston in a close 5-4 win, with six of the matches going past three games.

Notre Dame will look to carry that momentum into the new season. Only two players from last season’s championship roster graduated, and the club is generating a lot of interest on campus. “We just had our first Squash Club meeting of the season and almost 40 new members were there!” coach Geoff McCuen reported after the start of the school year. “Several of the men come from East Coast prep schools with squash programs, so we are very excited about the prospects of our team this year.”

Notre Dame will play in two tournaments before traveling to Harvard for Nationals. They’ll compete in the Mid-American Round Robin at Kenyon in November, where they’re aiming to finish behind Denison and Northwestern, two well-established club programs. The Irish will also head west for the West Coast Round Robin at Washington, which will be another big trip for the team.

2009-2010 SEASON RECAP

Season Record: 1-8
Final Ranking: 56
Team Championships: 55th Overall; 7th in Hawthorn Cup (G Division)

2010-2011 SEASON PREVIEW

Program Status: Club

Head Coach: Geoff McCuen

Returning Players from Team Championships: Thomas Dore (9); Ryan Gisriel (2); Dennis Grabowski (5); Eric Huang (10); Kevin Ortenzio (3); Kenneth Schlax (8); Matthew Sushinsky (7); Jamie Urbana (6)

Graduates on Last Season’s Team Championships Roster: Peter Gallagher (1); Mark Hincapie (4)

Team Goals: Improve on last year’s ranking and finish in the top 3 at the Mid-American Round Robin in November

Key Matches: Mid-American Round Robin and the West Coast Round Robin

To read other team previews, please visit the 2010 – 2011 College Squash Preview Page.

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