The men's team opened the season Nov. 19 with a pair of decisive wins on the road over the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and George Washington University. The next day the team fought to top Franklin & Marshall College, 5-4, in Lancaster, Penn., to earn its third straight win and to maintain an undefeated record.
Just before final exams, the team hosted Harvard and was defeated, 8-1.
Five-game thrillers abounded throughout, with Luke Lee '12 and Fletcher Pease '14 both pulling out five-game wins against Navy, Chris Hanson '13 and Stephen Wetherill '12 tallying crucial wins in five games against F&M and Nick Sisodia '12 pushing through five games to win the only match against Harvard.
According to Captain Brian O'Toole '12, squash is "interesting because it is such a small sport," which allows the team to "know the teams it faces."
"We had a good start to the season, and it was what we expected," O'Toole said. "Navy and [George Washington] are less strong, and so it was a good way to get loose. F&M is among our closest competition so that win was important. Harvard has probably the strongest freshman class in college squash in a longtime."
The women's team has only played twice so far this season and has split matches against F&M and the Crimson. Against F&M, the team swept all nine matches from top to bottom, but it only managed a single match win against Harvard. Katherine Nimmo '14 took down her opponent 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 while teammates Corey Schafer '13, Marian Lurio '15 and Helena Darling '15 each forced their matches to a fourth game against the Crimson.
Captain Julia Watson '12 commented on the range of competition on the Big Green's schedule this season.
"Harvard is always a very strong team and have been national champions, so it was a good way to test ourselves," Watson said. "We did our best and while the overall score doesn't show it there were good games within each match. F&M is not as strong a team but there were still some good matches played. This season, there were some schedule changes so we have less teams that we can beat handily but we are still confident."
Head Coach Hansi Wiens said he is "really happy with the way the matches went in November."
"We usually use the early part of the season to work on our game structure, to play matches and do some traveling," Wiens said. "We can always get better there's no doubt about it but so far so good. Our real season starts next week so we are focused on getting ready for that."
Both teams traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., for an eight-day training trip at the beginning of winter break to continue to build on their fitness and squash skills. O'Toole shared what the training schedule looked like in the offseason and on the trip.
"We had captain's practice almost everyday in the fall and had weekly fitness training sessions, speed and agility work and went on morning runs with the assistant coaches, which we've never done in the past," he said. "The training trip was probably the hardest trip we've had since I've been here. We played an hour of squash in the morning and did an hour of fitness and then in the afternoon played another hour of squash and did an hour of cross training like basketball, beach volleyball or swimming."
Watson explained the importance of the training trip and the work that must be done at home during break.
"We go on the trip right after finals so people haven't been able to play for a few days, so the trip shocks our bodies back into shape," Watson said. "It is important we don't let the fitness work from the trip go to waste so we train six times a week when we are home to maintain our level of fitness."
In squash, each contest consists of nine official matches, with players organized into numerical positions from No.1-No.9. The Big Green uses weekly challenge matches in order to determine who will play at which spot on the ladder for each competition.
"On Wednesdays and sometimes on the weekends we play challenge matches against the person one spot above or one spot below us on the ladder and move spots depending on the outcome," O'Toole said. "Coach gets the final say and in extreme cases the ladder is flexible depending on who we are playing."
Watson said that the women's team has four strong freshmen that play in the top nine.
"Our freshmen are enthusiastic and have a strong base from playing in high school," she said. "The coaches gave them additional training sessions this fall to show them what is expected and instill in them what it is like to play college squash. They are super fit and excited about the season, which is great."
Back in Hanover, the teams are focusing on playing as much as possible and on maintaining their high level of fitness before matches begin.
"We are making sure to hit a lot of balls and spend time on the courts since a lot of people have less access to courts at home," O'Toole said. "We have done a lot of conditioned games and simulated match play."
Watson said training during the offseason is critical to success during the season.
"We have been doing a lot of speed work and need to focus on ourselves and not only on who we are playing," she said. "It is hard to make big strides during the season but we work to keep on getting better and to build a strong team dynamic so we feel confident going into matches. We play some tough teams, so we need to get pumped up for each match and know all the training is an advantage we have."
Coach Wiens stressed the team's focus on fitness and injury prevention this season.
"Last season, we had a lot of injuries so we are training hard and working on balance, muscle mobility and controlling the ball in the front and back courts to try and stay fit and healthy," Wiens said. "We are so much fitter than last year."
The goal for the men's team is to finish in the top eight so that the team is in the top bracket for the end-of-season tournament.
"Finishing in the top eight like we have in the last three years is our first goal, but finishing in the top six is our top goal," O'Toole said.
A week of focused practice sessions and fitness work will lead up to next weekend's home matches against Princeton University, Penn and Bates College.
"Our strategy will be to play as hard as possible and for them to know when they come here that it will be a hard time for them," Wiens said. "I expect lots of good matches coming up."
