In their final matchups of the regular season, the Big Green men's and women's squash teams defeated Brown University, 8-1 and 9-0, respectively, in front of a full crowd at Berry Racquet Center on Saturday night. Earlier that day, both teams won at Middlebury College, 9-0.
Including the matches against Brown, the men's team (10-6, 2-4 Ivy) has tallied seven shutouts this season and the women's team (9-7, 1-5 Ivy) has totaled nine shutouts.
Head coach Hansi Wiens said he was satisfied with the season's outcome and the men's team's performance.
"Our seniors all got a chance to play today, so to do that some of our normal players sat out, including number one Chris Hanson ['13]," Wiens said. "We proved to be too strong for Middlebury and Brown on both sides. Brown got much stronger than last year but we were in good shape and had better racquet skills."
In his match against Middlebury (13-9, 7-2 NESCAC), Robbie Maycock '13 and his opponent battled to a fifth game. After trading wins in the first four games, Maycock took the fifth, 11-6, to win the match.
"Middlebury is a good team but we played really well, we came out strong and overpowered them," co-captain Mike Lewis '11 said. "Most of the matches were one-sided and our wins were pretty convincing in both matches. The team handled the unique schedule of playing away and then home in the same day very well. We executed out there and are reaching our potential at the right time."
Stephen Preefer '11 fought hard in his match against Brown (7-7, 0-6 Ivy) but fell to his opponent in five games. After leading 9-3 in the second game, he dropped the game and traded the next two before losing in the fifth, 11-7.
Co-captain Ted Schroeder '11 said he was proud of the way the men's team played against Middlebury and Brown.
"We came out with great intensity in both matches today," he said. "It can be tough not to let your intensity drop when you're playing a not-top team but we stepped up and got the job done."
While many women's players were able to win their matches over the weekend relatively easily, Sarah Loucks '13 fought to the end to take her match against Brown (7-7, 0-5 Ivy). She and her opponent were tied after the four games before Loucks ended the match with a 13-11 five-game victory.
Women's captain Hannah Conant '11 said Middlebury (16-5, 10-1 NESCAC) has improved since last season and that the Big Green played well in preparation for its matchup against Brown.
"Middlebury was a nice warm-up for Brown," Conant said. "We knew we had to beat Brown to stay in the top eight, which meant winning at least five matches. There were a lot of close matches and we won 9-0."
The men's team recognized its four graduating seniors Ben Gettinger '11, Lewis, Schroeder and Preefer with a picture presentation as a part of its final home match. The women's team recognized the dedication and hard work of Conant the team's only senior who appreciated the large crowd presence.
"Our four seniors left it all out on the court," Lewis said of the men's team. "It has been a wonderful four years and some of the best memories I will take away with me from Dartmouth will be from this team. It is bittersweet, but today was a great way to go out and to end the season."
Schroeder said there was a large amount of excitement surrounding the occasion.
"Today was a really special day and the seniors have been looking forward to it," he said. "We have seen those before us be recognized and there was a lot of support for us today."
The men's team will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to compete in the College Squash Association Championships the national culminating tournament of the season at the end of February.
"We will be number seven and in the A-draw going into the tournament. We accomplished our first goal and now want to be even better," Lewis said. "We will move up higher in the rankings with our next shot against Harvard [University] and Cornell [University]."
Wiens said the women's team will leave everything on the court when it competes in the Howe Cup, the collegiate women's squash culminating tournament, at Princeton University next weekend.
"We are in the top eight in the country for the tournament," Wiens said. "If we win the championship, we could be top four. This would be very tough but anything is possible."
Conant said she was pleased with how the regular season ended and is looking forward to the Cup.
"Moving forward, we have one week to train before the [Cup]," she said. "We will work hard for our last chance and hopefully use the opportunity to beat some of the teams we lost to in the regular season. We have played some good squash, have had a good time this season and are excited to finish up."
