As the defending Ivy League champion, the Yale men's team (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) is currently in first place in the League standings and was a formidable opponent for the Big Green men (3-1, 0-1 Ivy). Historically, Dartmouth has had trouble against the Bulldogs, so members from the Big Green were not disappointed with the 2-7 finish.
"Yale is tough and we have only won a handful of matches off of them in the last three of four years," head coach Hansi Wiens said. "They have improved this year but so have we."
As the number one player on the men's team, Chris Hanson '13 won in three games and Fletcher Pease '14 pulled out a tough win in five games. Pease dropped the first two games 9-11 and 7-11, but came back to win 13-11, 11-7 and 11-5 down the stretch. Robbie Maycock '13 lost in five games and co-captain Ted Schroeder '11 fell 3-1.
"We gave Yale a pretty good run," Brian O'Toole '12 said. "We had a couple guys who lost in four and five games. Hanson had a great weekend and outworked both other number ones. Maycock and Schroeder both also played well and are looking good right now."
The Yale match showed how much progress the team has made and that its training is beginning to pay off, Schroeder said. The men won more matches against Yale than any of the Bulldogs' other opponents this season.
Against Amherst (3-2), Dartmouth won all but two matches in three straight games, even with Pease and Michael Lewis '11 resting for the matchup.
"We all played well against Amherst and took the match pretty easily," O'Toole said.
The women's 6-3 loss to Yale (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) was also an improvement over previous years. The top three players Valeria Wiens '13, Corey Schafer '13 and captain Hannah Conant '11 all won their matches.
Valeria Wiens won the first two games, dropped the third and then took the fourth. Conant pulled out an exciting five-game victory, despite dropping a nail-biting second game 19-21. Schafer was able to defeat her opponent in four games.
"While our top three wins against Yale were huge and very exciting matches, everyone else had great matches and kept their opponents on court and under pressure," Conant said.
Although the bottom six positions in the Dartmouth ladder all lost their respective matches, they showed growth that bodes well for future matchups.
"The women have been working hard and they played really well," Hansi Wiens said. "Becky Lau ['13] fought hard and lost 11-9 in the fifth game. Allie Bradford ['12] and Julia Watson ['12] each were able to get a game off their opponents. I am very proud of how the girls played and they continue to show big improvement."
Like the men, the Dartmouth women's team (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) was able to win all but one match against Amherst (3-2) in just three games.
"The team has been working extremely hard since the start of fall term and today's matches really showed how much everyone has improved," Conant said. "Everyone came out ready to go and played really well."
The team started the season successfully, when it hosted the Dartmouth Fall Classic at the end of November. The men swept the U.S. Naval Academy, Bowdoin College and Hamilton College, each a shutout with Dartmouth winning all nine matches. The women similarly won against Bowdoin and Hamilton.
The last match played by either squad was against Harvard University more than a month ago, in which both teams suffered their first League losses. The Harvard women's team was the Ivy League champions last winter.
December was devoted to training, conditioning and skill work both in Florida on a team training trip and once players returned home.
"Our season starts in November, but January and February are when we are busiest," Hansi Wiens said. "The two-a-day training sessions in Florida showed the teams how hard they could push their bodies. The pressure and level of intensity led to improvement for both teams. Everyone worked hard at home, too."
Successful squash players must be quick on their feet, able to make smart decisions on the court and read their opponent and the specific situation. Training, therefore, must include not only practicing body form but also improving strength, agility and game sense.
The two teams are focusing on maintaining a top-eight national ranking for the remainder of the season, according to Hansi Wiens. During the final weekend of February, the men will compete in the CSA Championships in Cambridge, Mass., while the women will play in the Howe Cup in Princeton, N.J.
"The tournament matches will show how good we really are," Wiens said. "I could see us finishing anything between fifth and tenth place depending on how we play."
Schroeder echoed Wiens' desire to achieve a top-eight ranking, noting that the team was going to focus on winning Ivy League matchups against the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University.
The girl's team also will aim to meet its potential and maintain good form, according to Conant.
"This was a great start to Winter Term and everyone is very excited for our matches in coming weeks," she said. "This should be an exciting season."
Both squads have a busy month coming up the men and women will each play at least 10 matches in the next 32 days.
"The players should all be very tired after this weekend's matches," Hansi Wiens said. "The next eight weeks are very busy with matches every weekend and sometimes during the week, also."
On Tuesday, the women's team will travel to South Hadley, Mass. to face Mount Hoyoke College. Next weekend, the men and women will both play at home against Franklin & Marshall University, Trinity College and Bates College.
"Franklin and Marshall has been recruiting heavily internationally and can threaten the natural order of things in the top eight this year," Schroeder said.
Last year, the men and women's teams triumphed over Franklin & Marshall and Bates, but were defeated by Trinity a squash program that consistently ranks in the top three nationally.
