Problem-plagued M. Squash heads north

The Penn men's squash team heads to Harvard this weekend for the ISA Team Championships. But the Quakers team that is competing this weekend has undergone enormous transformations in the last month alone. For one, while the Quakers once practiced on dingy, unattractive courts, renovations at the Ringe Squash Courts have just been completed. The renovated courts also now feature the Intercollegiate Squash Hall of Fame. The face of the team has also changed dramatically. From a team with 14 able and willing competitors at the beginning of the year, Penn has now been reduced to the bare minimum of nine. Even more recently, the Quakers (5-7, 2-4 Ivy League) lost their coach, Jim Masland, who stepped down on Wednesday, effective at the end of the season. Now, faced with a diminished squad and a lame-duck coach, the Quakers must try to defend their No. 9 ranking this weekend at Harvard during the ISA Team Championships. The team started this year with high hopes, based on the return of Shams Mistry and the debut of Jamie White, who had both sat out the previous season with injuries. However, midway through the season, Mistry, the team's No. 2, and Chuck Braff, Penn's No. 3, chose to quit the team. Adding to Penn's problems, White, the team's No. 1, collapsed on the court last weekend and is still awaiting medical clearance to play. White's absence is, as one player described it, a "mental letdown" for the entire team. However, the straw that broke the camel's back was the suspensions of Mukund Khaitan and Roberto Kriete -- the team's two top freshmen. Both were suspended by Masland for the rest of the season after they failed to show up for the team's previous two matches. With five of Penn's top nine unavailable to play this weekend, each of the remaining Quakers has been shifted up at least three spots. "It's tough playing up a few spots, but that's the nature of the game. It's a team sport," sophomore Peter Withstandley said. "You always have to be ready to step up." Penn heads into the tournament playing in the "B" bracket, which features the teams ranked ninth and below. As No. 9 in the nation, Penn is looking to defend its ranking by winning the tournament. However, with the loss of so many players, that outcome seems highly improbable. "Unfortunately, we're up so far now [in the ladder], I mean we have so many guys playing varsity who have never played varsity before that it's going to be difficult," Withstandley said. "I doubt that we're going to be able to defend our ranking. I think [Franklin & Marshall], Navy and Denison are too tough -- all three of those teams we only beat 5-4 originally." While the Red and Blue may not come home victorious this weekend, Masland does not view his last year at Penn as a failure. "Our record of 5-7 is better than it was the previous year," Masland said. "We came into the season ranked 10th and we're currently ranked ninth, so those are both pluses. "Any kind of progress like that is great."