If the remaining weeks of the regular season are anything like this past weekend – the first full weekend of matches in 2022 – college squash fans are in for a treat. The University of Pennsylvania men solidified their top-ranked standing, the Harvard women gutted out a win to extend their historic winning streak, and numerous close matches dotted the schedule throughout the weekend.

• The Penn men, ranked No. 1 since the beginning of the season, defended that standing and their home courts against No. 2-ranked Harvard, notching their first regular season victory against the Crimson since 1979. Penn’s depth proved to be too strong for Harvard to overcome, with the Quakers winning in positions 5 through 9.
• To their credit, both Harvard teams showed grit and a winning mentality in crucial matches against the third-ranked Princeton teams on Sunday. The No. 1 Harvard women saw their 87-match winning streak in potential jeopardy, but a gutsy comeback victory by first-year Habiba Eldefrawy at the #4 position clinched the fifth team point for the Crimson. The Princeton men took a 3-2 lead when Youssef Ibrahim outmatched Victor Crouin in a titanic battle at #1, but Harvard buckled down in the final rotation of matches to take the 5-4 victory.
• The other Ivy League matches produced some excellent squash, but the results fell according to ranking in all but one match. The No. 6 Columbia women welcomed No. 4 Yale to the Big Apple on Sunday. Columbia’s formidable top three players set the tone for the Lions, who looked strong on their way to a 6-3 win. Both Trinity teams (No. 2 women/No. 4 men) went 2-0 on the weekend over Columbia and Cornell.
• The teams from Bowdoin are two of the hottest teams in the CSA at the moment. The men followed up a monumental win against Amherst from earlier in the week with two resounding victories over Hobart and Dickinson. Not to be outdone, the Bowdoin women defended home court against a motivated William Smith side before upsetting Dickinson for another big win.
• Other teams on the rise this weekend were the Georgetown women and the St. Lawrence men. Georgetown went 2-1 at the Pioneer Valley Invitational, including an upset win over Conn College. St. Lawrence narrowly missed an upset of Franklin & Marshall on Sunday before righting the ship for a strong win over Brown on Monday afternoon.

Full results from the season so far can be viewed here: Women and Men.

Stay tuned for the updated college squash rankings to be released tomorrow, January 19.