Problems continue to plague M. Squash

The Penn men's squash team competed without many of its top players in two shutout losses to Ivy opponents. After the Quakers lost their No. 2 and No. 3 players two weeks ago, they thought things could not possibly get worse. They were wrong. In fact, as time progresses, it seems like anything that can go wrong will go wrong for the Penn men's squash team. On Saturday, the Quakers (4-7, 2-4 Ivy League) faced off against Harvard (9-1, 5-0) at the Ringe Courts. Under any circumstances, No. 9 Penn would have a tough time with No. 2 Harvard. But the Quakers found a win to be impossible. Not only was Penn without former No. 2 Shams Mistry and No. 3 Chuck Braff, who quit the team, but freshmen Mukund Khaitan and Roberto Kriete were no-shows. Missing four of their original top nine, the Quakers were manhandled by the Crimson, losing 9-0. All nine of the individual matches were decided in the minimum three games. While disappointed with Harvard's sweep, the Quakers had to quickly regain their focus and concentrate on Sunday's important match against Dartmouth. A win against the Big Green (10-5, 3-3) was the Quakers' last chance to realize their long-term goal of finishing among the nation's top eight teams. But Penn's luck went south once again. Repeat offenders Khaitan and Kriete arrived late and were unable to play for the second straight day. The Red and Blue's troubles were compounded by the loss of their No. 1, Jamie White, who had to sit out the match with an unknown medical condition. White's problems began during practice on Thursday, when he collapsed on the court and momentarily lost consciousness. Though he played in Saturday's match he reported feeling "really disconnected and spaced out" and was advised by doctors not to play on Sunday. The Quakers entered Sunday's match believing they had a good chance of beating the Big Green and cracking the top eight. However, without five of their former top nine, the Red and Blue came up short yet again. The final match score was all too familiar -- 9-0 Dartmouth. Only one Quaker, freshman John Griffin, was able to draw his match out to five games, winning the first two 15-9 and 15-5. Griffin eventually succumbed in the fifth, losing 15-5. "Both of these matches were disappointments," sophomore Will Ruthrauff said. "Although we knew we were facing an incredibly talented Harvard squad, losing to Dartmouth 9-0 is a tragedy for a team with our talent." Although the weekend losses were a setback for Penn's ranking, the team feels it did benefit from the experience. "I think for the first time there was a general consensus that we had nine players that went out there and who wanted to be on the court and who wanted to play," White said. "People for the first time felt team camaraderie. "There was a stronger bond. It wasn't a bunch of individuals doing their own thing, it was the team pulling for the team." This weekend's losses conclude the Quakers' dual meet season. They have only two competitions left -- the ISA team and individual championships. Currently ranked ninth nationally, the Quakers will compete in the second tier at the team championships, to be held at Harvard February 26 to 28. "We're looking to win the B bracket and finish up the season very strong," captain Andrew Hopkins said. "After a considerably up-and-down season, a No. 9 ranking in the country is very respectable."