The Dartmouth Staff
The men's and women's squash teams both beat Middlebury College on the road but fell to Yale at home in twin Saturday doubleheaders.
The No. 8 men's team lost to No. 3 Yale 7-2. With the loss, the Big Green fell to 5-3 overall, and 0-2 in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs improved their perfect record to 4-0, 2-0 in the Ivy League.
Dartmouth's number-one player, Andrew Boumford '09, got the Big Green off to a winning start with a five-set victory over junior Aaron Fuchs. Yale bounced back quickly, however, as sophomore John Fulham defeated Nick Sisodia '12 in straight sets. Ted Newhouse '09 regained the advantage for Dartmouth with a straight-set victory of his own before Yale took over and won the remaining six matches.
"Yale has a really athletic and deep team," Sisodia said. "Some of us weren't as sharp as usual, and we were definitely outplayed at times."
While Dartmouth did well to stay in the match and lead after three rounds, Yale overpowered the Big Green by going 18-1 through the last six matches. All nine of the Bulldog players were ranked above eighty in the preseason individual rankings.
"We played some good matches," Sisodia said. "Andrew Boumford beat Aaron Fuchs, who's been Yale's number one for a while, in a five-set thriller. [Boumford]'s skill really neutralized Fuchs' athleticism. Also, Ted Newhouse beat Todd Ruth in straight sets which was really big."
The men then traveled to Middlebury where they dominated play, winning 9-0. The Big Green improved to 6-3, while the No. 18 Panthers fell to 5-4 for the season.
"It was good to go there and win after losing to Yale," Sisodia said. "We got in there and won all our matches. There were some close matches but overall we were a lot sharper than we were earlier that day."
Sitting at 0-2 in the Ivy League, Dartmouth will have to play well in its remaining matches to stay in the hunt for the Ivy League title. The Big Green travels to Ithaca, N.Y., to face Cornell in its next conference match on Jan. 24 before facing Brown and Penn later this winter.
"We're definitely looking to beat Brown," Sisodia said of one of Dartmouth's remaining Ivy League battles. "We feel like we're a stronger side than they are. Penn will be a battle, but I think if we play good squash there's no reason we shouldn't beat them."
The No. 8 women's team was trounced by visiting Yale 9-0. The Big Green dropped to 5-2 with the loss, 0-2 in the Ivy League. The No. 5 Bulldogs improved to 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the Ivy. For the Big Green, it was a less than ideal way to bounce back from the 9-0 defeat it suffered at Harvard in its last match before the winter break.
Yale outplayed Dartmouth throughout the match, with every player winning in straight sets. Yale sophomore Logan Greer started the match off by defeating Hannah Conant '11 decisively, 9-4, 9-5, 9-2. Junior Katharine Ettinger sealed the sweep with a 9-5, 9-2, 9-3 victory over Danielle Fuschetti '10.
The Big Green will be concerned with its Ivy League play as it continues throughout the rest of the season. In non-conference matches Dartmouth is 6-0, but in Ivy play the women are 0-2 and have not won a single match.
Dartmouth's conference schedule does not get any easier, as its next match is with is No. 7 Cornell, followed No. 10 Brown. The Big Green women will have to win both of these matchups if they are to have any shot at the Ivy League title.
At Middlebury, the Big Green dismantled the Panthers 8-1. Dartmouth improved to 6-1 with the win, and No. 15 Middlebury dropped to 8-4.
For the Big Green, the Middlebury match served as a good way to get back on track after their disappointing Harvard and Yale games.
The men and women's teams both host Amherst College this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., and then welcome Trinity College on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
