This weekend the Dartmouth men's and women's squash teams will open up their seasons at home at the Dartmouth Fall Classic when the United States Naval Academy, Bowdoin College, Connecticut College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wesleyan University, Tufts University, Hamilton College, Mount Holyoke College and Colby College will all visit Hanover.
Head coach John Power enters his 10th season at the helm for the Big Green, and will be assisted by coaches Hansi Wiens and Ken Cucuel.
On the men's side, the Big Green harbors high expectations. After finishing last season ranked No. 8 nationally, the 2008-09 preseason rankings have Dartmouth down a spot to No. 9, inspiring a fiery determination in this year's squad.
"The disappointing loss to Williams last year at Nationals definitely still stings," captain Ted Newhouse '09 said. "I think it's adding some extra motivation towards this year."
The hard training alluded to by Newhouse has been a common theme for the Big Green this pre-season.
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war," captain Andrew Boumford '09 said, referencing the intense preparation individual Dartmouth players have undertaken in anticipation of the season.
In addition to a tremendous influx of new talent, the Big Green only lost one top player to graduation, last year's captain Adam King '08.
"Without a doubt this is the strongest team we've had here in my four years," captain Tyler Young '09 said. "But it's also important to note that the league is stronger than we've ever seen it. We could be as high as four, but also even as low as nine."
The Ivy League is once again the strongest conference in the country with six teams ranked in the top 10 nationally at the start the season. Princeton, Yale and Harvard are ranked No. 2, 3 and 4 respectively, with Cornell No. 6, the University of Pennsylvania No. 7 and Dartmouth No. 9.
At the top, Boumford heads into his fourth year as the Big Green's number one player, while the arrival of Nick Sisodia '12 to campus this fall has brought a tremendous amount of competition to the two and three spots in the Dartmouth lineup.
Sisodia is a four-time Junior Midwestern Open Champion and has been in intense competition with incumbent number two Newhouse, for the team's number two spot. Newhouse has been able to edge Sisodia of late and will represent the Big Green at two, with the freshman slotted at three.
"It's great to have another player in the top three to push both myself and Boumford and keep us at the top of our games," Newhouse said.
Mike Lewis '11 has battled though numerous preseason physical ailments to secure the number four spot in the lineup, fending off Brian O'Toole '12, who will play at the five spot.
Recent challenge matches have brought about more ladder movement, with Steve Wetherill '12 and Mike Shrubb '10 competing to see who will play at the sixth and seventh slots.
After an undefeated showing at the Ivy scrimmages two weekends ago, Young looks to continue his success at the eighth spot for the Big Green.
The intense competition for lineup spots shows the depth of this year's Dartmouth squad.
After finishing sixth nationally last year, the Dartmouth women's team endured some key losses at the top of the lineup, including Christie Alexander '08, Becca Loucks '08 and Ashley Malenchak '08.
Co-captain Madeline Lurio '09 will fill the void left by last year's graduates. Lurio returns this season as the lone senior on the young Dartmouth squad. She will play number one for the Big Green.
"It's definitely going to be a tough year for us," Lurio said. "We lost our top three from last year and we are a very young team."
"We have a bunch of inexperienced players in general," co-captain Libbey Brown '10 said. "They haven't grown up in the junior tournament circuit, but they have a lot of potential and are key to our team."
At the two spot, Hannah Conant '11 returns from a successful freshman campaign in which she finished ranked No. 46 in the country.
Brown will push Conant at the two spot and represent Dartmouth at three on Friday night.
Sophomores Maura Doherty '11 and Taylor Tully '11 will follow at the four and five spots, while freshmen Allie Bradford '12 and Caroline Lindseth '12 will battle at six and seven.
Elizabeth Weintraub '10, Danielle Fuschetti '10 and Heather Binnie '12 round out the line-up for the women. Julia Watson '12 and Lucretia Witte '10 will also see action.
Lurio stressed how competition in the ladder is good for the young team.
"Throughout the ladder everyone is challenged by those above them and behind, which is good because it creates motivation for each player to do their best every day," Lurio said. "Already in the first two months of pre-season people have shown tremendous improvement, which is really promising for the rest of the year."
The men's team will start off its season with a tough match against Navy on Friday night. Navy (13-0), who comes into Hanover undefeated, has yet to face any true competition this year.
The women will also open up on Friday, looking to start things off on the right note against Mount Holyoke.
"Were excited to start off the season with a bunch of solid matches at home right before Thanksgiving break to get things going," Brown said. "It's a good warm-up because we come back, and then we have a tough match against Harvard at home."
