The Penn men's squash team has been holding many of its opponents scoreless recently, compiling four shutouts in its last six matches entering yesterday's contest against Haverford College.
Even after getting what has become their annual drubbing from No. 1 Trinity, the No. 5 Quakers added another clean sheet to their resume, knocking off the Fords 9-0 in Haverford, Pa.
Every player posted a 3-0 victory in his match for the Quakers, who moved to 7-3 on the year and 2-1 in the Ivy League.
Even though the Red and Blue was itself swept earlier this week, head coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said that he did not deliberately schedule a weaker team directly after a strong one so that his team would regain confidence.
"It was just good to play another game," Thorpe-Clark insisted. "It wasn't really a morale-booster."
This year, Haverford (6-9) debuted a new squash facility, and Thorpe-Clark said that he wanted to schedule a match against the Fords in Haverford partially for that reason.
The Quakers weren't disappointed by the facilities or the environment.
"The atmosphere was good -- there was a small but vocal crowd," Thorpe-Clark said. "It was good fun."
"The courts were beautiful," senior Jacob Himmelrich said, adding that Haverford's proximity to Penn and Thorpe-Clark's relationship with Haverford coach Sean Sloane also make them a ready opponent.
"We play them [almost] every year," he said.
Himmelrich played from the No. 3 spot to dispatch Haverford's Sam Morgan 9-2, 9-3, 9-0.
Penn played three freshmen -- Nick Malinkowski, Parker Justi and Rory Heilakka -- against the overmatched and inexperienced Fords, who came into the match ranked at No. 30 in the nation.
The ease with which the Quakers won was unsurprising to the team. Thorpe-Clark cited a "big dropoff" between elite teams of Penn's caliber and teams of Haverford's level.
Playing at the No. 5 spot, Malinkowski had the most impressive performance of the three young players, easily defeating Haverford junior Mike Montesano 9-0, 9-1, 9-2.
In the No. 1 spot, sophomore Spencer Kurn beat Haverford sophomore Alex Salton 9-5, 9-2, 9-3.
The Red and Blue may be able to beat up on inferior opposition, but it will likely find its next few matches considerably tougher.
After a facing a string of non-conference opponents in January, Penn will take on three top-10 programs in the Ivy League.
The Quakers resume action at Ringe Courts next Wednesday when they host No. 3 Princeton. On the weekend of Feb. 10, they travel to No. 2 Harvard and No. 8 Dartmouth.
