Men's Squash to open campaign

After last weekend's success in the Ivy League Scrimmage at Yale, the Penn men's squash team opens the regular season Saturday against Cornell at the Ringe Squash Courts.

"We're pretty excited to get the season going and see what we can do," freshman Colby Emerson said.

"This is the best team I've had in my four years here," said Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clarke.

The Big Red, ranked 5th in the country by Squashtalk.com, pose a considerable threat to the 11th-ranked Quakers.

"They are very strong at the top of the ladder," senior co-captain Sam Miller said, describing the individual rankings of the players on the squad.

"There are going to be some very close matches all the way through," he said.

"Cornell was given a good preseason ranking and moved up," Thorpe-Clarke said. "They have certainly one of the best teams they've had in a while."

Thorpe-Clarke was also quick to note the fact that Cornell comes to West Philly with many seniors on the squad.

"When you have a lot of seniors it's going to be one of your good years," he said.

In addition to this experience, Cornell's top two players are both freshmen.

The Red and Blue are not fazed, however.

"We're optimistic that we can pull off a surprise," Thorpe-Clarke said. "I think we can step up to the plate and give them a good run for their money."

"We've got an intense team and we tend to do best in difficult competition," said Emerson. "I think that a close match, an even match like this will bring out the best in us," he said.

Penn is also aiming to take advantage of the fact that the team does not have to make the arduous trek to Ithaca, N.Y. for the weekend.

"We've got them at home, at our courts... that's to our advantage," said Miller.

"The traveling anywhere takes a lot out of you, just sitting in a van," Emerson said.

Staying in Philadelphia "is going to play a big part in us being able to play our best," he said.

The team also hopes to gain energy from this match being their opener, especially as it is in the midst of a number of other big sports events this weekend.

"We don't have the loudest crowd, but we always have a vocal and supportive crowd," Thorpe-Clark said.

"If you've never seen squash before, it's definitely one of the most physically impressive games," said Miller. "It's extremely high-paced and it's a lot of fun," he said.

"Hopefully, there will be a lot of people there and [we'll] pull of a win," he added.

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