The men’s and women’s squash teams returned to campus at the start of the new year to continue their campaign with three busy weeks of competition and training. After spending a few days at Wesleyan, the teams trained for a week in San Diego before resuming their match schedules in Middletown.
“San Diego met all of my expectations and goals,” wrote Head Coach Shona Kerr in an email to The Argus. “We physically worked very hard and mirrored that work on the squash courts. The time outside of our familiar settings allowed us to bond as a group, and being able to train in a warmer climate made it much easier physically.”
Upon their return, the Cardinals trained in preparation for the Pioneer Valley Invitational, held in western Massachusetts on Jan. 17 and 18. There, both the men’s and women’s teams faced Drexel University, Hamilton, and Bowdoin.
After an opening 7-2 loss to twelfth-ranked Drexel, the men turned around to down their two NESCAC foes and ignite their ongoing winning streak. After a 9-0 sweep of Hamilton, they faced a much tougher challenge in Bowdoin, seeded just two places below the Cardinals in the rankings. In an exciting finale to the invitational, Michael DeLalio ’15 broke a 4-4 deadlock with Bowdoin to clinch a victory for the Cardinals, capping off his 2-1 weekend overall record. DeLalio’s efforts were rewarded with the NESCAC coaches awarding him Player of the Week honors.
Competition was slightly stiffer on the women’s side, as all three opponents sat above Wesleyan in the rankings going into the Invitational. The Cards didn’t find much success throughout the weekend, losing all three matches. One bright spot was Laila Samy ’18, who won all three games for the Cards and pushed her unbeaten streak to 15. Ashley Suan ’18 also put up an impressive individual display against Hamilton, winning her match in a five-game marathon. In the final match against Bowdoin, the Cards proved that they could punch above their weight, as they lost by the slimmest of margins, 5-4, against the higher-seeded Bowdoin.
Up next for the men and women was a weeknight match against NESCAC opponents Conn College, with both sets of Cardinals posting matching 9-0 victories. The courts were packed on a day when many students returned to campus, and both teams put on a show. Even with Guy Davidson ’16 and Daniel Sneed ’15 out with injuries, the men eased their way to victory, and the women, behind another Samy win in three, cruised to a resounding win.
With injuries still freshly healing, the men played a huge match this past Saturday at home against Colby. Seeded only one place above the Mules, the Cards looked to make it four straight against NESCAC opposition.
All picking up exciting wins, Grant Lounsbury ’17, Alex Kamisher ’17, Zachary Roach ’17, and Raheem Logan ’16 pushed Wesleyan to a 4-3 advantage. With only two matches left to play, top-ranked Davidson came back from 1-0 down to win 3-1 and clinch the fifth win, ensuring the victory for the Cards in front of a huge crowd.
Kamisher put the team’s win against Colby in perspective.
“It was a big win for us because it ensures that we are in the top five in NESCAC as long as we beat Amherst and possibly even beat Williams, which put us in a better position going into the NESCAC tournament,” Kamisher said. “It would be massive if we were able to finish in the top four in NESCAC, and this win against Colby was a step in that direction.”
Using the momentum from the big win against Colby, the men went on to dominate four lesser opponents this weekend, with 9-0 wins against Bryant University and Hobart College and 8-1 wins against MIT and Denison University. Logan, Lounsbury, Roach, Davidson, and Kamisher all went undefeated on the weekend.
The women also squared off against Colby and welcomed Boston University over the weekend, hoping for two victories against potentially beatable opposition. Despite showing their strength at the top of the ladder with convincing wins by Samy, Lauren Nelson ’15, and Suan at the one, two, and three spots respectively, the women fell 6-3 to a Colby squad seeded one beneath them in the rankings. The Cardinals then faced a weaker opponent in Boston University, which allowed them to sit four of their top players. Winning 9-0, the women capped off an eventful January in which they won twice and lost four times.
Samy closed out January with her unbeaten streak still alive at 17. She has yet to even lose an individual game. Kerr aptly described her importance to the team in an email to The Argus.
“She is a star and has yet to lose at the number 1 position for the women,” Kerr wrote. “This is a huge advantage in that we basically start 1-0 up in our matches.”
Ahead for both the men and the women are home matches this Saturday against Amherst and Williams in a battle for the Little Three. The men will hope to continue their winning streak against NESCAC opposition but will face tough tests, while the women look forward to more high-level competition against higher-seeded opposition.