Winter Carnival weekend was no party for the Dartmouth squash teams, as they could only squeak-out one victory in four very close matches with Princeton and Penn. Both teams dropped their matches to the Princeton juggernaut on Saturday, while the Big Green women were able to sneak past the Quakers on Sunday.
The Dartmouth lady squashers were barely edged, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Princeton's Jadwin Squash Courts. The team used its near victory as fuel, and they rolled into Philadelphia for yet another nailbiter on Sunday afternoon. This outcome was different, however, as the Big Green won a hard-fought match 5-4.
Senior captain Charlotte Haldeman said that it "was a great feeling for the team to beat Penn. Hopefully we can replicate that win this weekend at the National Tournament."
The weekend boosted Dartmouth's record to 11-4 overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League. Look for the lady squashers to do great things this weekend as they will travel to Yale to compete for the Howe Cup on Friday.
The weekend was a bit more disappointing on the men's side as they dropped both of their matches to the talented squads from Princeton and Penn. In a match that was closer than its score would lead you to believe, Dartmouth dropped a tough one to the Tigers by a score of 9-0.
They bounced back on Sunday to give Penn a run for their money, but in the end, the Quakers barely squeezed by with a 5-4 decision. Junior captain Jesse Nisselson had this to say about the team's play: "this weekend was a bit disappointing since we lost a close battle against Penn. We are confident though that we'll take them down at Championships."
When asked to comment on why the weekend's efforts were unsuccessful, Nisselson said: "I think if we had turned our game bags in on time, we definitely would have won the match."
In any case, the Big Green is looking forward to its time off in preparation for the CSA Team Championship at Princeton next weekend. The Dartmouth men are now 11-7 overall and 1-5 in Ivy competition.
