Princeton dominates M. Squash

Princeton put its undefeated record on the line, and the Tigers cruised to victory. When a coach has the painful experience of watching his team get blown out of the water by an opponent, he usually just wants it to be over. He usually just wants to stop the bleeding. Craig Thorpe-Clark might be the exception to that rule. The coach of the Penn men's squash team (2-6, 1-3 Ivy League) had to witness his squad get bested by national power Princeton, 8-1, last night at the Ringe Squash Courts. Undaunted, the first-year skipper was pleased to see how his team continued to persevere as the darkness deepened outside on 33rd Street. In short, he was pleased to see how long it took for the Tigers (5-0, 3-0) to finish off his Quakers. "We got started at about 5:00, and now it's almost 7:00, and we still have one match going," Thorpe-Clark said as he turned down to look at his watch. "When I look at the play this evening, I'm definitely pleased with the way the game scores look. They've done what I asked them to do." Penn No. 8 Ritesh Tilani was the only Quaker to record a victory. The junior from the United Arab Emirates logged a 3-1 win over Princeton senior Brian Spaly. He looked to cruise from the gun against Spaly, sprinting out to a two-game-to-nothing lead, 15-12 and 15-8. Spaly battled back to win a tight third game 15-13, but Tilani sunk back into the driver's seat to bury him, 15-8, for the Quakers' sole match victory. "Usually, my problem is that I'm not able to stay focused on the match," Tilani said. "I was able to focus right in tonight. The third game was really tough, but I had my game together today." Not only was Tilani the only Quaker to beat his Princeton opponent, he was also one of just two Penn athletes to even win a game. Penn freshman Sam Miller was the only other team member to avoid a shutout. He fell to Princeton No. 6 Randolph McEvoy, 3-1. As it turns out, however, yesterday's loss was closer than last year's Penn-Princeton showdown. The Quakers didn't even manage to win a single match in a 9-0 shutout at Princeton exactly one year ago today. The Tigers are a powerhouse squad. The racqueted gentlemen from Old Nassau finished fourth in the nation last year with an 11-5 overall record, all of their losses coming to the top three teams in the country. Even though the Tigers lost two All-Americans to the graduating class of 1999, they are still touted to finish at or above where they ended up last season. The No. 1 and No. 2 players for Princeton not only have similar ability -- they also have the same heredity. Senior No. 1 Peter Yik and his brother, freshman No. 2 David Yik, pace the Tigers. Both hail from North Vancouver, B.C., and were national superstars in Canada before making the move to New Jersey. Luckily for the Quakers, the elder Yik elected to sit out last evening's contest on account of Princeton's hectic schedule of late. Nevertheless, his brother moved up to the first position and beat Penn co-captain Peter Withstandley in straight games, 15-3, 15-10 and 15-9. "I'm getting a chance to play a level of guys that I've never played before," Withstandley said. "What they have that I don't have yet is a level of consistency. I can hit good shots, but they can hit it every time." Withstandley did not start the season playing the No. 1 spot for the Quakers. Junior James White began in the Quakers' top spot but never returned to the lineup after Christmas. According to Thorpe-Clark, White will not return to the Penn depth chart at all this season. He has left school this semester for personal reasons. With the absence of White at the top spot, Withstandley will need to take on players of the highest caliber in the world of squash, and as his coach argues, it's very difficult for the players on Penn's team to challenge those sort of athletes. "The top two or three for a team like Princeton are extremely well-bred players," Thorpe-Clark said. "They very often have represented their country at the highest level of international competitions. They come from well-developed training programs, and Pete [Withstandley] just hasn't been exposed to that. "He's still adjusting to regularly playing those guys." Senior co-captain Andrew Hopkins fought hard at the No. 5 position, losing to Princeton's Harrison Gabel, 17-14, 15-11 and 15-11. Most of those in attendance were struck by the effort put forth by the Quakers from top to bottom. Still, it was obvious to most that comparing these two programs right now is somewhat like comparing apples and oranges. Thorpe-Clark feels that Demer Holleran's Penn women are much more akin to the men from Old Nassau than his own athletes are. "It's their depth that beats us," Thorpe-Clark said. "All the way down they have people with a lot of international experience. If you look at Demer's team, her top four or five players come from the best in other countries." News and Notes Penn freshman Elan Levy has decided to leave the team.

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