Conditioning has been the main focus of the men’s squash team in preparing for the 2009-10 season.
And tomorrow the Quakers will get the chance to show if it has paid off when they open their season with back-to-back matches in Ithaca, N.Y.
“We’re in good shape, and squash is a sport that rewards consistency and hard work,” coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said.
The No. 7 Quakers hope they’ll be rewarded for their hard work when they face off against No. 8 University of Western Ontario and No. 6 Cornell, two teams that Penn would love to get ahead of in the national rankings.
“This is a big match for us mostly because we only play UWO every other year,” senior captain Mark Froot said. “It’s pretty important for us to beat them up a little bit and put them behind us in the rankings.”
Playing back-to-back matches is perhaps the greatest obstacle for the Quakers tomorrow.
“The schedule for the day is not ideal. I would have liked a bit more time in between,” Thorpe-Clark said. “The fitter you are, the better you recover. We’re certainly fit enough and strong enough to play both matches.”
Penn lost to Cornell, 7-2, in the Ivy League Scrimmages last week.
“A lot of matches from the Cornell scrimmage were close, but the entire score did not appear to be that close,” Froot said. “Three or four of the seven losses could have flipped the other way very easily.”
Thorpe-Clark also commented on the tremendous depth of Cornell’s squad. From No. 1 to No. 9, they are solid at every position.
Although Penn lost 7-2 to Western Ontario in the 2007-08 season, the Quakers still feel that they have a good chance to beat the Mustangs, given that their team is much stronger than it was two years ago.
“Western Ontario is the best Canadian school, and they win their national championship every year,” Thorpe-Clark said. “They always come with a very talented squad.”
Two freshmen will start tomorrow for the Red and Blue, most notably Dan Greenberg, who came to Penn highly touted.
“Dan was one of the top junior players in the U.S.,” Thorpe-Clark said. “He has a lot of experience. He will be playing No. 2 for us, so he’s obviously made his mark on the program.”
Come tomorrow, Greenberg and the Quakers will find out if they can handle the challenge of playing two straight matches.
“It’s not going to be the physical challenge so much, but the mental challenge of refocusing for the second match,” Thorpe-Clark said.
