Carlisle, PA — “Look for a young, energetic team that is looking to show players, coaches, and fans of college squash that Dickinson College is going to be on the rise for years to come,” forecasts Dickinson head coach Chris Sachvie. Sachvie has many reasons to be optimistic: the Red Devils have seven incoming players all expected to play in the starting nine, and Dickinson will play a competitive, strategic schedule that will give the squad a number of reasonable opportunities to move up in the rankings. “We have arranged to play 12 teams that finished between 25 and 50 in the rankings last season, giving us a shot to greatly improve on our 55th ranking,” says Sachvie. “My goal as a coach is to win most of the guaranteed-to-be close matches with teams in the 25-45 area and give ourselves a chance at reaching the top 30.” The Red Devils will also get a boost from their returners, veterans of the program’s first season as a varsity. Sachvie highlights the contributions of Sam Weinstein: “Sam Weinstein emerged as a leader last fall in our inaugural season, but unfortunately we lost him shortly after to a semester abroad. He has been training hard this offseason and is looking to earn a spot in the top 10. Regardless of where Sam ends up on the line-up he is a great team player and ‘energy guy.'” There seems to be positive energy to go around with the Dickinson program.
2014-2015 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 3-14
Final Ranking: 55
Team Championships: 7th in the Hawthorn Cup (G Division)
By the Numbers (From US Squash): 5-4 Matches Won: 0 of 0… Top 3 Win %: 0.2157… Middle 3 Win %: 0.0784… Lower 3 Win %: 0.2
2015-2016 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Varsity
Head Coach: Christopher Sachvie
Returning Players from Team Championships: 1. Nicholas Struzenski (2018); 2. Preston Miller (2017); 3. Samuel Portelance (2018); 4. Nadim El-Jaroudi (2016); 5. Zachary Keller-Coffey (2017); 6. Kevin Zhu (2017); 7. John Mayers (2016); 8. Jeff Chamberlin (2017); 9. Tucker Mitchell (2016); 10. James Fisher (2018); 11. John Blumenfeld (2017)
Graduated/Non-Returning Players from 2014-2015 Team Championships: None
Additions to the 2015-2016 Roster:
- Expected to play in the top 3: Abdelrahman Elsergany (Egypt, Kent School, CT) and Brian Hamilton (Springside Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, PA)
- Expected to play in the top 5: Vincent Warzecha (Malvern Prep, Philadelphia, PA), Hal Holappa (New Canaan HS, New Canaan, CT), Cory Litman (Lower Merion HS, Philadelphia, PA)
- Expected to play in the middle 3: Harrison Mayo (Lower Merion HS, Philadelphia, PA) and Andrew Strudwick (Lake Forest Academy, Chicago, IL)
Team Goals: Break into the top-30 in the national rankings
Key Matches: Conn College, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh, MIT, NYU, Richmonds, and Tufts
To read other team previews, please visit the 2015-2016 College Squash Season Previews page.
