Looking ahead to the 2003-04 season, the Penn men's squash team identified one goal -- to finish the season in the top five of the national rankings.
The table was set for an ascension into the elite of intercollegiate squash: the Quakers had their best recruiting class in the program's history, All-American Richard Repetto was returning for his junior year and the team had finished the 2002-03 campaign with a respectable No. 7 ranking.
This weekend was an opportunity to solidify the Quakers' claim to a top-five ranking and erase from their memories some unsatisfactory performances, most notably a loss to Cornell in the first match of the season.
However, with two defeats in the final two matches of the season, the weekend proved to be a disappointment rather than a springboard to the upper echelon of intercollegiate squash for the young Penn squad.
Though the objective of a top- five ranking is not completely out of reach, the eighth-ranked Quakers did little to help their cause, dropping matches on the road to No. 3 Harvard, 9-0, and No. 5 Dartmouth, 6-3.
The Quakers (8-7, 1-5 Ivy) knew their match against Harvard (5-1, 4-0 Ivy) was going to be an uphill battle, but the team saw Dartmouth as an opportunity for victory.
"Harvard is a great team," Penn freshman Gilly Lane said. "They have a lot of talent. We hoped to come away with a 1-1 record for the weekend, but unfortunately didn't."
The Crimson thoroughly dominated Saturday's match, as the Quakers were not able to win a game over their Harvard foes.
The loss to Dartmouth (12-4, 3-3 Ivy) on Sunday was particularly heartbreaking, as the Red and Blue lost three matches that went to the maximum five games. The loss cemented the Quakers into sixth place in the Ivy League.
Penn sophomore Jake Himmelrich felt that the close matches were the difference between victory and defeat against the Big Green.
"Almost every match went to multiple games," Himmelrich said. "And we only won two of the tight matches. You need to win the close ones."
Lane echoed Himmelrich's sense of disappointment, both in the weekend and the season.
"The team is obviously upset," Lane said. "I don't think we really played up to our potential in our two big matches at Cornell and Dartmouth."
Dartmouth, playing on its senior day, may have had revenge on its mind. The Quakers defeated the Big Green last year at the Ringe Courts in a situation very similar to this year's meeting.
"They were fired up," Penn junior Drew Crockett said. "They just seemed to have the desire to win -- maybe a little frustration from last year pushed them over the edge."
The Quakers have the next two weeks off, before traveling to New Haven, Conn., for the team championships. The Red and Blue, seeded eighth, will have their work cut out for them as they face undefeated No. 1 Trinity in their opening match of the tournament.
