M. Squash destroys Foes

There is nothing like a strong performance to raise the confidence level of a team. Judging by the play of the Penn men's squash team over the weekend, confidence is one thing it should not be lacking. Last Friday and Saturday 12 schools gathered for the West Point Invitational Tournament. Penn (6-0) played a round-robin style tournament against Bowdoin, Colby and Hobart. The team sent its top ten players to each play one against each of the three schools. In a focused display of skill and determination, the Quakers thrashed their competition, winning all 30 of their matches. The team left behind many of its key players, including standouts Andrew Braff, Ian Childs, Sanjay Nayar and Vayu Garware, but still managed to win with ease. These players were nursing minor injuries, but all of them should be ready for tomorrow's match at Franklin and Marshall. The lineup for the tournament was as follows: Steve Scharff, Craig Rappaport, Chris Bradine, Karl Sibbern and Leif Bergquist played in the Nos. 1-5 spots, while Ed Vincent, Nilay Mehta, Vik Gupta, Cabell Curran and Andrew Daniels rounded out the roster. This lineup will probably be adjusted by tomorrow's match when the injured players return. Scharff was happy with the team's play, but not surprised at the outcome. "We pretty much dominated the whole weekend, just like we hoped we would," he said. "Even though Craig and I didn't get to play matches that were as competitive as we would have liked, we got some good matches for the younger guys who are lower on our rotation." Scharff credits Penn coach Ned Edwards for preparing the team during winter break. Even though it was hard to come back a week early from vacation and work out twice a day for the remainder of the break, Scharff feels it was worth it. The Quakers were by far the best-conditioned team in the tournament. "This weekend accomplished everything I hoped it would," Edwards said. "It got our guys back in a competitive environment and prepared us for this week." This week begins a crucial stretch of matches for the Quakers. Over the next five days, Penn will square off against the Diplomats, Trinity, Williams and Amherst. All four should pose a tough challenge. Although the team is happy with its play over the weekend at West Point, Scharff knows better than to bask too long in his team's glory. "All this weekend did was get us ready for F&M; and the others," he said. "We've put in our time on and off the court, and we're walking into every match thinking we should be the victors." Obviously, the Quakers are not lacking that all-important ingredient of confidence.