On Wednesday, the College Squash Association (CSA) released the men’s and women’s team rankings prior to the start of the 2018-2019 season. This is the first rankings release of several that take place over the course of the season.
A poll of all varsity coaches, who each receive one vote, determines the order of the preseason rankings. Only the 31 women’s varsity teams and 35 men’s varsity teams appear in the first installment of the rankings. Club teams who have played the requisite number of matches will be added to the rankings on a rolling basis. Preliminary rankings will be published at regular intervals during the first part of the season until January 15, 2019, when the CSA implements its ranking algorithm. From that point forward, rankings will be published every week until the CSA Team National Championships in late February.
The women’s preseason rankings look very similar to the 2018 end-of-season rankings with two minor changes. Stanford edges Yale by a slight margin for the 4th spot, while Virginia jumps over Williams at Number 12. Stanford Head Coach Mark Talbott believes this might be the deepest team he has had yet in Palo Alto, and at least some of the coaches seem to believe him. The differences at 12 come down to roster make-up. Virginia added three strong recruits to a roster that returns nine out of ten starters, while Williams graduated three of its top five players while adding four newcomers to the roster.
The men’s poll showed a bit more movement than the women’s version. The biggest movers are: Dartmouth, who drop out of the Top 5 down to 7th; Drexel, who jumps up two spots to Number 11; and Brown, who tumbles three places down to 14th position. Dartmouth and Brown both lost experienced seniors at the top of their respective ladders, likely accounting for their falls in the rankings. In contrast, Drexel is slated to return two top performers who were absent in 2018 while adding a strong recruiting class to provide vital depth.
View the full women’s and men’s preseason rankings here: 2018-2019 CSA Preseason Rankings.
