Both the men's and women's squash teams used the momentum from their victories against Williams last Wednesday to beat Cornell by a comfortable margin at home on Saturday, the first win in the Ivy League for both of Dartmouth's teams.
The Big Green men's squash squad (11-3, 1-2 Ivy) has catapulted into the sixth spot in national play behind its three victories this week. The women's team (8-4, 1-2 Ivy) is now seventh nationally.
Head coach John Power was pleased with the performance of both teams.
"I'm very, very proud; both teams did a super job," Power said.
Co-captain Ted Newhouse '09 said after Wednesday's match that he was optimistic about his team's chances against the Big Red.
"I think we have a lot of momentum coming out of yesterday," Newhouse said after Wednesday's victory. "We played pretty well. We beat them a lot easier than we had exactly planned. If we keep up that confidence, we should be alright on Saturday."
And keep the momentum they did, roaring past No. 9 Cornell 7-2 and steamrolling Hobart 9-0.
The match against Cornell (3-5. 2-3 Ivy) was marked by a number of impressive Dartmouth performances.
Co-captain Adam King '08, playing third, rallied to win after losing his first two games. King clinched the match by winning the final game 9-0.
Dan Wagman '10 and Steve Preefer '11 also played five-game matches in the No. 6 and No. 8 spots, respectively. Both Wagman and Preefer lost their second and third games before coming back to win.
Newhouse, Mike Lewis '11 and Tyler Young '09, at spots two, four and seven, won their matches 3-0. Newhouse staged an impressive comeback in his first game, rallying to win 10-8 after having been down 2-8.
In the ninth spot, Ted Schroeder '11 also rebounded to win 3-1 after losing his first game.
Andrew Boumford '09, playing first, eventually lost his match against a higher-seeded player, but performed well.
Despite Boumford's loss, Power was pleased with the quality of play.
"Andrew Boumford probably played his best squash of the year," Power said.
The Big Green women's team earned a tight 5-4 victory against No. 8 Williams on Wednesday, and subsequently went on this weekend to beat No. 10 Cornell (2-5, 0-5 Ivy) 7-2.
Power was pleased that his team was able to rebound from a tough loss against Stanford in the Bates Invitational.
"Coming off a disappointing match against Stanford, the tight win against Williams was tremendous," Power said.
Co-captain Christie Alexander '08 talked about the team's excitement after its victory over Williams.
"The team is on very much of a positive note," Alexander said after Wednesday's match. "Everyone's really excited about it and it definitely will give us some momentum, I think, in the upcoming match against Cornell and against Brown next weekend."
The Williams game was tied with a score of 4-4 before Madeline Lurio '09 pulled out a victory for the whole team in five grueling games.
The Big Green played very well against Cornell on Saturday. Co-captain Ashley Malenchak '08, playing the top seed, won in three, shutting out her opponent 9-0, 9-0, 9-0. Hannah Conant '11, Libbey Brown '10 and Taylor Tully '11, playing the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively, also won their matches 3-0.
Co-captain Becca Loucks '08 pulled out a victory in five games. Loucks lost her second and fourth games, but rebounded to win the final game 10-9.
Maura Doherty '11 also had a five-game match in the eighth spot, winning the first two and coming back to win the final game 9-4.
Elizabeth Weintraub '10, playing ninth, won her match after splitting the second and third games 10-8 and 8-10.
Alexander was unfortunately forced to surrender her game due to knee pain.
Power assessed his team's chances in the coming weeks.
"The Ivy League is tough for us," Power said. "We have a good chance against Brown, but we'll have a tight match against Penn."
Both the men and women will face Brownon Feb. 2 in Providence, R.I. The Bears are ranked 16th on the men's side, while the women are ranked ninth.
