Dartmouth's men's and women's squash teams had a tough weekend on the road as both teams fell to perennial powerhouses Yale and Trinity this weekend.
Despite the losses, head coach John Power was happy with how the teams performed, "We did quite well. Both teams are considered ahead of us [in the rankings]. I think we played well in a number of difficult circumstances."
The No. 7 men's team (8-3, 0-2 Ivy) dropped 9-0 decisions to both No. 4 Yale (8-0, 5-0 Ivy) and No. 1 Trinity. The Bulldogs are ranked first in the Ivy League and Trinity has not lost a match since Feb. 1998. With the weekend's win, Trinity extends its winning streak to 171 victories in a row, the longest winning streak in collegiate sports history.
In a match that saw few successes for the Big Green, Stephen Preefer '11 was the only Dartmouth player to win more than one set.
"Preefer played some of the best squash I've ever seen him play," co-captain Ted Newhouse '09 said.
Preefer won two sets at the No. 7 slot on the roster before being forced to forfeit when he became ill in the fifth set.
Stephen Preefer is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
Ted Schroeder '11, who fills the team's No. 9 spot, also played well, winning the second set of his match 9-4. Schroeder managed to draw the fourth and final set out before losing 10-8.
Dartmouth's No. 3 Adam King '08 also lost a close match, winning the third set 9-6 and taking the first and last sets into a win-by-two tiebreaker.
Though King eventually lost 3-0 to Trinity's Supreet Singh, Newhouse counted King's match among the highlights of the day.
"[King] played extremely well against a very good player from Trinity," Newhouse said.
The women's team (6-4, 0-2 Ivy) racked up a slightly better score as it fell 8-1 to No. 4 Yale (8-1, 2-1 Ivy)and 9-0 to No. 5 Trinity.
"The team definitely put all the effort they had, everyone stuck in and really gave over 100 percent," co-captain Christie Alexander '08 said.
Alexander is the top-seed on the women's team but was unable to play on Saturday due to a knee injury.
Highlights for the Big Green women included a five-set win against Yale by Maura Doherty '11 in the No. 7 spot. Doherty won the first two sets, dropped the second two and came back to win the final set 9-6. No. 4 Hannah Conant '11 had a hard-fought loss, winning the second set 10-8 before eventually losing the match 3-1.
"[We need to] not get frustrated despite the circumstances and maintain focus," Alexander said in regards to her team's attitude as the women prepare for their upcoming matches. against No. 7 Williams and No. 10 Cornell.
Both teams look to bounce back as they prepare to face Williams College on Wednesday . Williams' men's team is ranked No. 5 while the women's team is ranked No. 7. The Dartmouth teams will then face Ivy opponent Cornell on Saturday. Cornell's men's squad is ranked at No. 8, while the women come in at No. 10
"This weekend was good to give us a wake-up call," Newhouse said.
