M. Squash toi battle a 'horde'

What do you get when a horde of Bears, Elis, and Lord Jeffs come into your house? The Penn men's squash team hopes it gets three victories. This weekend Brown, Amherst, and Yale will walk into the Ringe Courts in West Philly. The Quakers (1-0 Ivy League, 1-1 overall) will host the Elis first at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Last season Yale gave the Quakers a 8-1 beating. But four key Quakers have graduated since then, and a group of promising newcomers hope to start something new. "We've got a chance of getting beaten really badly, or we can actually have a shot of beating this team," Penn coach Ned Edwards said. "[Yale's] good, but they're within reach." Although experience usually triumphs over rawness, the young Quaker team hopes to reverse this trend. Yale comes in with a great deal of junior and senior starters. "They're experienced and they're stylish," Edwards said. "They've all had a lot of experience as junior players. Our team this year is definitely better than last year, and if each of our players have a great day we could win the match." Freshmen Juan Dominguez and Sumeet Bhullar occupy the 4 and 5 slots for the Quakers. Both players performed excellently during Penn's first two meets and are beginning to feel a little more part of the team. "It's a little hard to say how long [before they're comfortable]," Edwards said. "I think that these guys are learning so fast that they will never settle in to a comfort level. It's been a challenge for both guys, but I think that they're excited. In order for us to win, we're going to need one of them to win." Junior Vayu Garware returns to the lineup for the Quakers after missing the first two matches due to an injury. With the team at full strength with the only possible exception a sore back for superstar junior Steve Scharff, Penn looks forward to a potentially huge weekend. Amherst (Sunday, 11 a.m.) defeated the Quakers 5-4 last year, but that was in the middle of Penn's horrible slide. Brown (Sunday, 2 p.m.) fell to the Quakers 5-4 last year and Penn should be favored against both teams. "Amherst finished ahead of us last year and that was unacceptable," Edwards said. "I'd like to think that we're stronger than both these teams. I think we're going to have our hands full, though. Neither match is going to be easy. We're not so good that we could just waltz through any match, but I think that we should do well." Second team All-American Scharff's weekend won't be a walk in the park. He faces three extremely talented players, including two of the top freshmen in the nation, who occupy the No. 1 positions for Brown and Amherst. In addition, the Quakers look forward to their first home matches of the year. "It will help us being at home," Edwards said. "The temperature is a little different from most courts. Us being comfortable will support us." This weekend could very possibly set the stage for the rest of Penn's year, as a 3-0 sweep could put the Quakers near the top of the country. But anything more than a loss to Yale would be a grave disappointment for this young, fearless squad.