Brunswick, ME — Bowdoin made the most of their Walker Cup run at the 2014 – 2015 Team Championships. The Polar Bears were seeded 3rd and made it to the finals. This was especially gratifying since during the regular season, Bowdoin lost 3-6 to Hamilton. In the Walker Cup semifinals, that score was reversed, and Bowdoin advanced to the finals to face Amherst. After losing three players to graduation, the Polar Bears are expecting four first-year students to join the line-up, including one player expected to compete for a position in the top 3. This should strengthen Bowdoin’s line-up. Last season, Bowdoin went 3-0 in 5-4 matches, and that experience will be beneficial this season. According to head coach Tomas Fortson, the goals of the season are to “develop our team dynamics, improve our skills consistently, and be at our best in competition, while enjoying the process.” Look for Bowdoin to move up the NESCAC and national rankings this season.
2014-2015 SEASON RECAP
Season Record: 9-12
Final Ranking: 18
Team Championships: 2nd in the Walker Cup (C Division)
By the Numbers (From US Squash): 5-4 Matches Won: 3 of 3… Top 3 Win %: 0.3939… Middle 3 Win %: 0.4848… Lower 3 Win %: 0.4091
2015-2016 SEASON PREVIEW
Program Status: Varsity
Head Coach: Tomas Fortson
Returning Players from Team Championships: 1. Sarah Nelson (2017 – NESCAC All-Sportsmanship, Second Team All-NESCAC); 2. Torey Lee (2016 – CSA Scholar Athlete, NESCAC All-Academic); 3. Tully Ross (2018); 5. Diya Chopra (2018); 7. Chloe Polikoff (2017); 8. Alex Moreno (2018); 10. Nicole Ampatey (2016); 11. Zoe Wood (2018); Perla Rubi (2016)
Graduated/Non-Returning Players from 2014-2015 Team Championships: 4. Alden Drake (2015 – Second Team All-NESCAC); 6. Sara Wlodarczyk (2015); 9. Emily Simonton (2015 – NESCAC All-Academic); Katherine Gracey (2015)
Additions to the 2015-2016 Roster:
- Expected to play in the top 3: Alexa Horwitz (Baldwin)
- Expected to play in the top 9: Natalie LaPlant (returning from abroad), Mariela Mendoza (Episcopal, VA), and Gaby Foti (Loomis)
- Other addition: Alicia Lima
Captains: Torey Lee and Sarah Nelson
Team Goals: Develop our team dynamics, improve our skills consistently and be at our best in competition, while enjoying the process.
Key Matches: All matches
To read other team previews, please visit the 2015-2016 College Squash Season Previews page.
Ithaca, NY — With the loss of only one senior from last year’s Team Championships, Cornell is fielding a young team again this season. In fact, according to head coach Mark Devoy, the Big Red squad is “mainly freshmen and sophomores, so it will be exiting to see how they perform.” During the offseason, Cornell 
Wellesley, MA — For the second consecutive season, Wellesley captured the Seven Sisters title. The Blue Pride want to extend that streak this season, and they know that Mount Holyoke, their top Seven Sisters rival, is eager to regain the crown. Wellesley is focused on matches with last year’s Walker Cup squads. The Blue Pride will need to perform well against these teams to move up the rankings to receive a higher seeding in Team Championships. The team has already commenced volunteering efforts this season. In early October, the squad participated in the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” initiative, Wellelsey’s fifth consecutive year. They are also volunteering with SquashBusters and the American Cancer Society Walk. The team will have two seniors, Kate Loftus, who learned to play squash in college, and Gabriella Wynn. Wellesley will need a few quality wins during the regular season if they want to maintain a position in this season’s Walker Cup.
Easton, PA — Lafayette is motivated to return to Team Championships this season. After only playing four matches last year. the team fell short of the qualifying standard for nationals. This season, the Leopards are ready. According to Charlie Mullaney, Lafayette’s “goals for this year are to take advantage of the enthusiasm of our new players and to beat our previous year records, as well as to play as much squash as possible and be a competitive team.” The team is looking forward to round robins at Bard and the Jesters tournament in Baltimore. The Leopards’ traditional school rival, Lehigh, will of course be an important match. One of the five captains for Lafayette will be Andrew Winn. Winn “puts his heart and soul out onto the court and even with our record remains extraordinarily positive and is always looking to get someone else hooked on the game we all know and love. Specifically, this kid lives and breathes squash,” states Mullaney. Lafayette appears motivated for the 2015 – 2016 season.
Lewisburg, PA — After finishing last season as the 31st ranked team in the nation, Bucknell wants to get back to a top-30 ranking position. This goal may be challenging given that the Bison graduated four players from last season’s Team Championships. Yet the Bison are expecting eight players to join their squad this season. Fitness is a key area for Bucknell. According to co-captain Mike Gagnier, “We plan on doing more fitness to help our stamina. We lost too many five game matches last year because our players were running out of gas. Five game matches are so critical when we’re playing rival teams, and we want to put ourselves in the position to win every one of them.” Bucknell knows that matches with Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and MIT will be crucial to their season. Even if Bucknell increases their fitness and capitalizes on key matches, the Bison still may be left out of a talented top 30 ranking position at season end.