This past weekend, (December 3-5) Wesleyan’s men’s and women’s squash teams hosted the Round Robin Squash Invitational, and the home teams sure gave the fans something to be happy about. The men’s squad sported a very impressive 4-1 record over that time, which included victories over NESCAC rivals Colby and Tufts. The women’s team had similar NESCAC success, dispatching Tufts and Colby, while going down to Middlebury. Both teams had winning records, and both had four wins on the weekend (the women went 4-3). There were many parallels between the two squads’ shared success, but none more evident then their shared home court advantage.

The men had a stressful stretch with five games in three days. “We can’t wait to provide some home court wins for the fans,” said number four player Zander Nassikas ’14.

Nassikas and the rest of the team proved that they were up to the Challenge as they defeated Tufts, Colgate, Colby, and Georgetown, while only losing to George Washington (by scores of 9-0, 9-0, 7-2, 8-1, and 2-7 respectively). Led by #4/5 Jeff Berman ’14, and #8 Luke Wherry ’13 who both went 5-0 on the weekend, the Cardinals made every match a close one. Even in the losing effort to George Washington, only three players failed to win a game. The depth, youth, and gamesmanship of the new and improved Wesleyan Cardinals squash team shown through, as the boys are currently riding high with a 6-2 record on the season. It is sometimes the trend among Wesleyan’s teams that they will win early season games against out of conference opponents and then begin to enter panic mode with the first few NESCAC games of the year, but this team is resilient. This strong young core of talented athletes should have Wesleyan near the top of the ‘CAC for years to come, and certainly this season.

If five games in three days sounded hard, try seven. The women had an absolutely non-stop weekend, in which they captured wins against Tufts, Colby, Hobart, and Smith, while falling to Middlebury, George Washington, and Mt. Holyoke (by scores of 9-0, 6-3, 9-0, 9-0 and 0-9, 2-7, 0-9 respectively). The women have also come out strong this year, posting a .500 record of 6-4. Their depth is, like the men, very formidable. They managed to hold on to beat Colby, even after dropping matches in the #1-3 spots. Their next match will be a return to NESCAC action on Dec. 9 against cross-state rival Connecticut College. Both teams are playing great and are making strides towards the top of the league.