After a weekend full of conference championship events and with an eye toward the National Collegiate Team Championships, the College Squash Association (CSA) published its latest set of rankings on Tuesday.
Not surprisingly, only the upsets and very close matches between conference foes impacted the rankings this week. Even with nearly a full data set of match results, there are a few ties and several other very closely ranked teams.
The single result with probably the biggest influence on the rankings this week was the Mid-Atlantic Squash Conference men’s fourth seed Franklin & Marshall toppling top-seeded Drexel in the semifinals of that competition. That result prevented a potentially interesting Drexel-Virginia showdown that was seeded for the final and also led to Drexel beating George Washington in the third place match.
With those results in mind, Drexel and George Washington both fall two spots in this week’s rankings to Nos. 8 and 14, respectively, and Franklin & Marshall jumps one spot to No. 13. F&M does not quite reach Cornell, who settles in at No. 12.
On the women’s side, the final piece of the puzzle for positions four through eight fell into place with Penn grabbing a very tight 5-4 win over Columbia at home. Yale’s upset win over Trinity puts them solidly at No. 4, but Penn, Stanford, Drexel, and Columbia are tightly bunched behind them. Penn gets the nod at No. 5 ahead of Stanford, while Drexel and Columbia are currently tied for seventh.
Middlebury’s successful run to a third-place finish as the 5-seed in the NESCAC Women’s Championship means they move up two spots to No. 15. Bates and Amherst, the loser to Middlebury in that third-place match, come in right behind at Nos. 16 and 17.
Back in the men’s rankings, Hobart’s upset over an under-manned St. Lawrence squad in the Liberty League Championships sees Hobart rise and St. Lawrence fall, but previous results keep them separated by a few places.
Other big movers among club programs include the Wellesley women, and the men’s teams from Denison, Richmond, and Northwestern.
To view the full set of rankings, please visit the College Squash Team Rankings page.
Correction: the initial press release noted that the Bates women lost to Middlebury in the NESCAC third-place match. It was Amherst who lost in that match.
