Just when it seemed that the schedule couldn't get any tougher, it snowed.
The Penn men's squash team consistently faces teams in the nation's top-20, but this weekend was the ultimate treatment -- facing the top-two teams in the nation, Trinity and Yale, and falling, 8-1, to both squads on consecutive days.
A match with No. 1 Trinity alone makes for a difficult weekend. The Bantams (5-0) are the five-time defending Intercollegiate National champions and haven't lost since 1998 -- they rode a 94-match winning streak heading into the Ringe Courts on Saturday.
The Quakers were originally scheduled to face No. 2 Yale (7-1, 3-0 Ivy) in West Philadelphia on Dec. 6, but inclement weather forced a postponement. The competition with the Elis was rescheduled for Sunday, setting up the most difficult weekend imaginable for the young Penn squad.
Naturally, the No. 7 Quakers (5-4, 1-2 Ivy) and coach Craig Thorpe-Clark had realistic expectations for the matches against Trinity and Yale.
"We wanted to be competitive and make them have to win every point," Thorpe-Clark said. "We were playing the two best, so no disappointments."
Sophomore Jacob Himmelrich, who played at the No. 4 position and was the only Quaker to win a match against Yale, echoed Thorpe-Clark's sentiments.
"Obviously we didn't expect two victories against the top teams in the country," Himmelrich said. "We expected to go out and play hard and be more competitive than we had in the past, and we accomplished this."
Despite losing twice, the Quakers had a successful weekend, using the challenging matches as preparation for the rest of the season.
"It was a really good weekend for us -- without winning," Thorpe-Clark said. "This weekend gave our guys the feeling that they can go in and win the matches."
Gilly Lane, one of three freshmen in the starting lineup for the Red and Blue, viewed the matches as a learning experience. Lane faced Trinity's Bernardo Samper and Yale's Julian Illingworth, the third- and fourth-ranked players in intercollegiate squash, respectively.
"I'm playing two of the top four guys in the country -- it was a learning lesson," Lane said. "Inexperience played into the match a little. I have to take the lessons learned from it and move on."
Penn is next in action against No. 4 Princeton on Wednesday at the Ringe Courts. The Quakers hope to take the confidence gained this weekend into their bout with the rival Tigers.
"We've seen the best and hung with the best," Himmelrich said. "We can now focus on beating Princeton and the rest of the teams on our schedule."
