It is a widely known sports philosophy that players "learn from the best." Men's squash coach Craig Thorpe-Clarke and his team have taken this adage to heart.
After the humbling experience of getting shut out, 9-0, against the top two teams in the nation - No. 1 Trinity on Jan. 24 and No. 2 Princeton on Jan. 28 - Penn (6-4, 1-3) closes out its Ivy League season with two home matches this weekend against No. 5 Harvard (5-2, 2-1) tomorrow and No. 8 Dartmouth (11-5, 1-3) Sunday.
Thorpe-Clarke believes the winning attitude and talent of the country's best will rub off on his own team.
"We've used what those guys do well and we've worked hard at challenging them," the coach said. "[Since the losses] we've kept that motivation going."
The consecutive losses will not be the only source of motivation for the team this weekend. With the seniors - No. 4 Joey Raho, No. 5 Andrew Zimmerman, No. 7 Bobby Dickey and No. 8 Parker Justi - playing their final home matches at Ringe Courts, Thorpe-Clarke is "expecting them to be very pumped."
The entire lineup will need to be energized against two tough Ivy League opponents. Harvard, which is itself coming off an 8-1 defeat against Trinity, boasts a lineup featuring three of the top 30 players in the nation, led by No. 4 Colin West. Undefeated at 7-0 this season, the junior beat Trinity's second-ranked Gustav Detter to give the Bantams one of only two individual match losses of the season.
Despite his opponents' credentials, Thorpe-Clarke said he thinks his team's familiarity with the Crimson will prove valuable tomorrow.
"We feel that the experience from the last couple competitions in playing Harvard will [lead to] a very competitive, well-contested and close match."
Dartmouth poses a similar challenge for the Quakers. The Big Green have two players in the top 50 but sit one spot below the Red and Blue in the team rankings. Thorpe-Clarke said this difference will mean little once the teams step on the court.
"In the top eight, there are no easy matches," he said. "We know we're going to have a tough match with them."
The Quakers hope to be at full strength by the weekend. Freshman No. 1 Thomas Mattson, who missed the Princeton match with bronchitis, and senior No. 2 Mark Froot, dealing with a back injury that has plagued him all season, are expected to return to the lineup.
Even with two difficult matches ahead, the coach and his battle-tested team are confident they will prevail.
"We're looking to move up this weekend," Thorpe-Clarke plainly stated. "That's our goal . to be able to hand out some losses."
If the team wants to emulate squash's powerhouses, a coach with swagger is certainly a good start.
