Hoping to improve upon their records last season, both the Dartmouth men's and women's squash teams are looking forward to playing their first matches this season at the Ivy Scrimmages at Yale University this weekend. After an off-season of hard training, both teams enter the new season with high expectations.
"[Ivy Scrimmages] is a great way to see how much our hard work has paid off," women's team captain Hannah Conant '11 said.
The women's team will play a tough Yale team in the first round, while the men's team will start off by playing Cornell, a team the Big Green narrowly lost to last season.
"We were neck and neck with Harvard and Cornell last year," men's team captain Mike Lewis '11 said. "It's going to be good to see how we'll stack up against them this year."
The men's team finished last season ranked seventh in the country and fifth in the Ivy League with an 11-6 (2-4 Ivy) record. At the end of last season, the Big Green suffered disappointing losses to Yale University and Cornell University before defeating Western Ontario in the College Squash Association Championships.
"You feel pretty excited any time you can finish top 10 in the country," Lewis said. "I think we made a lot of progress last season and I'm proud of how the team has looked so far."
Leading the men's team and playing in the number one spot is Chris Hanson '13, a first team All-American. In his freshman season at Dartmouth, Hanson finished with an 8-3 personal record competing as the team's top player.
In the off-season, Hanson represented the United States in the 2010 World University Games held in Melbourne, Australia. As the first Big Green player to compete in the games, Hanson finished ninth individually and helped the U.S. team to a bronze medal.
Playing in the second spot for Dartmouth will be Nick Sisodia '12 a second team All-American who had a 5-5 record playing at that position last year. Chris Yung '14 will get the start at the number three spot, while Lewis will play at number four.
"We have a very deep lineup this year," Lewis said. "That will help us win some close matches."
Dartmouth's other freshman, Fletcher Pease '14, will compete for a position in the top nine, whose matches count towards the overall team score.
"It's really hard to see what we have, especially the new players," head coach Hansi Wiens said. "It'll be important to see some of the freshmen and how they play in match situations."
The Dartmouth women's squash team finished 10th in the nation last season and made several key additions in the off-season. Out of the five freshmen on the Big Green, three will play in the top nine.
Valeria Wiens '13, who is married to head coach Hansi, will lead the women's squad playing in the number one spot. Valeria Wiens, who was named both All-American and first team All-Ivy as a freshman, finished last season with a 7-3 personal record.
Corey Schafer '13, will play in the second spot, while Conant will likely play in the third spot.
In the off-season, Conant, along with Lewis, received College Squash Association Scholar Athlete awards. The award was the first for the Dartmouth men's squash team, while the women have won it once before.
Conant said she is looking to lead the Big Green to a better season than last year.
"I definitely think we have potential to move up a few spots in the rankings this season," she said. "The team looks great, we've been training very hard and everyone is in great shape."
According to Hansi Wiens, the goal this season for both the men's and women's teams is to finish better than last season and compete for anywhere between fifth place and eighth place in the nation. His long-term goal in the next two to three years is to break into the top-five.
"I'm really looking forward to this season," Wiens said. "I'm especially looking forward to our tough matches this season, like Yale and Trinity [College]."
Both the men's and women's teams will open their Ivy League schedule on Dec. 1 at Harvard University. The last meeting between the two schools involved the infamous heckling incident last season.
