The promises and pitfalls of underclass talent were equally evident during the first weekend of play for the men and women’s squash teams. With several freshmen and sophomores positioned throughout its lineup, the men’s side was able to chalk up a pair of 6-3 victories over the Middlebury Panthers and M.I.T Engineers. On the ladies half, inexperience and illness contributed to a 9-0 rout at the hands of the Wellesley Blue.
“On paper we aren’t as solid as last year, but we worked hard in practice and the middle of our lineup was real solid,” said men’s co-captain Umay Suanda ’05.
The Nov. 20 trip to Massachusetts went well for the men, as eight of their starting nine recorded wins in the two Saturday matches. In the Middlebury match, the Cardinals showed some muscle at the top of their lineup by notching wins in the top six positions.
While slated as the regular number two seed, Evan Lodge ’08 was penciled in at the one position for his first collegiate competition. Against the Panthers, Lodge defeated his Middlebury opponent in straight sets. The number two and three seeds, Andy Aylward ’07 and Dylan Rau ’07, also won their matches in 3-0 fashion.
The Wesleyan top seeds had a tougher go against M.I.T. as Lodge and Aylward went down to defeat against two talented Engineers. The Cardinals proved to have more talent up and down their lineup, however, as all four seniors on the team came up with victories. Omair Sarwar, Phil Wallach and Suanda each tallied a straight set victory while Dave Ziegler gutted out a 3-2 victory from the eighth position. On the day, the four members of the Class of ’05 went a collective 7-1.
“The seniors add a degree of maturity and dedication that permeates the entire team,” said new head coach David Tedeschi. “Their focus and dedication has made my transition significantly easier.”
While Andrew Rozas ’06 is scheduled to be the regular number one seed this season, Tedeschi had no reservation putting Lodge at the top of the lineup for his first match.
“Evan is young, but loves the sport and is mentally mature enough to play in the number one slot,” Tedeschi said. “The danger in putting him there would be the frustration that a young collegiate player naturally feels when every match turns out to be a difficult one. I believe Evan can handle that pressure.”
Lodge has found the transition to be manageable thus far despite the momentary shock of his first assignment.
“I was surprised to find myself playing one,” Lodge said. “It is a competitive team, but unlike in high school the atmosphere is actually less competitive within the team.”
This accepting atmosphere is palpable in Suanda’s judgment of the underclassmen on the team.
“It’s awesome some of our younger players are at the top of the lineup,” he said. “It shows we will be pretty good in a couple of years, especially with the new courts attracting more recruits.”
Tedeschi’s tenure as men and women’s head squash coach got off to a rocky start as the women started the day at Wellesley. Before the very first ball was served, the Cardinals had the decks stacked against them.
“Wellesley has narrow courts, which no other school has,” said co-captain Shani Pavel ’05. “So shots that usually would be good in our courts don’t work on theirs.”
The late scratch of co-captain Brigid Dwyer ’05 from the third position augmented this disadvantage. Without their number three seed, seven Cardinals had to play up an extra position, including three underclassmen at the bottom of the bracket. The result was eight matches that ended in straight set defeats and one that saw Wesleyan capture one game, 3-1.
“In [almost every] match, the last game was by far the most competitive game in the match,” Tedeschi said. “This shows that our women were adapting well and learning from even the minimal experience of the first two games. If we had a bit more experience, Wellesley starts practicing a good three weeks before Wesleyan, and our full line-up this would have been a very competitive match.”
The lone game that went Wesleyan’s way was won by frosh Maddie Rottman, playing in the seventh slot.
With the departure of last year’s number one seed Sa Suwanarat ’04, the top position was handled by junior Sarah Hopkins. Like most of her teammates, she was unable to find any openings en route to a 3-0 defeat.
“Cross court shots were harder to hit and out of bounds areas were difficult [in the narrow courts],” Hopkins said. “What it came down to was they were able to control the court.”
In only her second season with the team, Hopkins has had to adjust to her new role as the number one player.
“I try to not have it change my mindset,” she explained. “One change in my game is that I play more defensive. I try to hit the ball deeper [along the walls] in order to control the T.”
Even though the team left Massachusetts with little to show for its effort, Pavel is optimistic about the team’s potential.
“We have a number of new players who are learning quickly, and I think two weeks from now, they will be playing much better than they already are,” she said.
Unfortunately, the team also dropped its second match of the season on Wednesday at Mount Holyoke. Hopkins and Rottman did score the first two individual match victories of the season, as the Cards dropped the match 7-2.
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