Both teams notched early wins to get the season off to a good start. The men's squad defeated Navy (15-4), George Washington University (4-3) and Franklin & Marshall College (1-3), with its only loss at the hands of Harvard (4-0, 3-0 Ivy). The women's team also fell to the Crimson (4-0, 3-0 Ivy), but earned a 9-0 win over Franklin & Marshall (1-3).
The fan misconduct at the match against Harvard drew national attention, including coverage in The Boston Globe and The New York Times. The Big Green, however, does not believe the publicity storm has had any impact on its image or its play, co-captain Daniel Wagman '10.
"We feel like it didn't make the squash team look bad," he said. "It hasn't really affected us."
Despite the No. 9 ranking the Dartmouth teams received from the College Squash Association following winter break, the Big Green will face tough competition in the months ahead as several Ivy League schools come in with higher rankings.
To prepare for the upcoming strength of schedule, both teams went on an eight-day training trip to San Diego during winter break. The trip was designed to both foster team unity and give the players a chance to practice in a relaxed setting.
"It went really well," co-captain Libbey Brown '10 said. "We trained every morning and were able to explore the area and do other things. We a lot of time to train and bond."
Both teams begin Winter term action on Saturday, when they travel to Connecticut to take on Yale University and Trinity College two of the top five teams in the country. On the men's side, the Yale Bulldogs (6-0) rank fourth in the nation and the Trinity Bantams (4-0) are first. The women will be facing a No. 4 Yale team (3-1) and a No. 2 Trinity squad (3-0).
After a week off, both teams will play two matches at separate venues on Jan. 17. At noon, Dartmouth will visit Williams College to play the tenth ranked men's team (7-1, 2-0 NESCAC) and the eighth ranked women's team (5-2, 1-1 NESCAC).
"Our closest match [of the season] is going to be with Williams," Brown said. "We have a history of close matches with them."
Dartmouth will then travel to Amherst College in order to take on the Lord Jeffs at 6 p.m., whose men's team (10-9) ranks 16th in the country.
"Williams is a tough match for us," Wagman said. "But [the travel]'s not really going to affect us that much. We make sure the distance between schools isn't too far when scheduling."
The following weekend, both teams play their matches at home. On Saturday, Jan. 24, the men and women will face off against Cornell in an important Ivy League matchup. The Big Red women (2-3, 0-3 Ivy) are fifth in the nation, while the men (3-2, 1-2 Ivy) are ranked sixth. Dartmouth will hope to perform better against Cornell than it did last year, when the men lost a close 3-6 match and the women suffered a tough 0-9 defeat. Still, the Big Green believes it can surprise the Big Red this year.
"Cornell has gotten better over the years," Brown said. "But we're really good too, so it should be a good match."
The Big Green plays again the next day, with the men first taking on the University of Rochester before both teams face Middlebury College. The No. 2 Rochester Yellowjackets (4-0) will be a formidable opponent, and the Middlebury men's squad (5-1) also cracks the top 20 at No. 17.
Despite the number of ranked opponents on their upcoming schedules, both teams are confident they can keep up their stamina and win matches.
"We're thinking positively about the season," Brown said. "We're definitely motivated to do well."
The men's team hopes to earn a spot in the national tournament, which only includes the top eight teams.
"Our big matches coming up are Williams, Penn and Cornell," Wagman said. "If we beat Williams and Penn we're pretty much guaranteed to be in the top eight in the country for the national tournament. We hope to challenge for top five or six. We're pretty excited."
