College squash matches over the last week since the new year started have been relatively one-sided affairs, with the closest matches being three 7-2 contests. One of those was the only upset of the week: the No. 20 Williams men took down conference foe No. 19 Middlebury at home.
There should be some much closer matches on display starting this weekend, however. More teams are back in action for the first time in 2020 with several intriguing contests lined up.
The first weekend doubleheaders of Ivy League play take place this weekend with the spotlight on the defending champions. Harvard welcomes Penn and Princeton to Cambridge, with all four visiting programs eager to make their mark. The Penn men are currently ranked 3rd and gave the Crimson its toughest match on their way to the title last season; the Princeton women also have the 3rd ranking and will be looking to make a statement; and the 4th-ranked Princeton men have been resurgent this season with a deep squad ready to compete with the champs.
Other busy locales of play this weekend will be in Maine and in the Mid-Atlantic region. Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Colleges are all home for the weekend, with Conn College, MIT, Mount Holyoke, Wesleyan, and Williams visiting in various combinations of matches.
Meantime, farther south, Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall play host to a bevy of matches involving Chatham, Hamilton, St. Lawrence, and Western Ontario. St. Lawrence and Western travel even farther south for contests on Sunday with George Washington and Virginia, respectively. Additionally, Middlebury is on the road at Navy, George Washington, and Drexel over three straight days. The results of many of these matches will significantly affect the final positioning of teams later in the season, particularly on the men’s side in the Hoehn (B) Division.
As if the weekend slate isn’t enticing enough, there is a higher-than-normal number of mid-week matches scheduled for next week. The Trinity-Rochester match-up on Tuesday the 14th could be another in a long line of monumental contests. Brown and Virginia produced an instant classic at last year’s National Women’s Team Championships and will renew their rivalry next week. Amherst at Middlebury, Tufts at Bates, and Brown at Navy all have potential for intriguing results.
The order of play for the week from January 9 to January 15 is:
- 3-court system: 2,1,3 / 5,6,4 / 8,7,9
- 5-court system: 1,2 / 4,3 / 6,5 / 7,8 / 10,9
View the full college schedules, as well as live results, here:
College Squash Women’s Schedule
College Squash Men’s Schedule
Please also follow the CSA on Twitter (@CollegeSquash) and Instagram (@college_squash) for social media updates throughout the weekend.
