After being swept in a doubleheader last Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y., the Penn squash team might have the perfect antidote for its early season blues when it faces No. 16 Franklin and Marshall tonight.
No. 9 Western Ontario, Canada’s best men’s squash team, upset the No. 7 Quakers, 5-4, while No. 6 Cornell swept them 9-0 in a match that was played 10 minutes following the conclusion of Penn’s match with the Mustangs. Those matches, especially the loss to Western Ontario, were disappointing for the team and coach Craig Thorpe-Clark.
“The Western match was a let down,” Thorpe-Clark said. “We let that one slip through our fingers.”
Unlike its back-to-back matches last weekend, Penn’s upcoming schedule just may work in their favor.
At 7 p.m. at Ringe Courts, the Quakers (0-2) will battle a Franklin and Marshall team (0-1) that has never beaten Penn. After outplaying F&M; Jan. 21, 2009 with a 7-2 win, Penn hopes to get back on its feet with another victory tonight.
“This is a match we go into expecting to win,” junior James Clark said. “We are deeper than they are, we should definitely win the match.”
However, a win may not be such an easy task this season, as the Diplomats have improved under coach John White, who was formerly the top player in the world.
“Franklin and Marshall is a team on the rise,” Thorpe-Clark said. “They have a real good chance at causing an upset and have raised their level of competitiveness with a noticeable improvement in fitness level.”
F&M;’s top players are very talented, including sophomore Gabriel de Melo from Brazil. He defeated Penn’s captain and last season’s No. 1 player, Mark Froot, in the first two games before Froot retired. Senior Sadiq Madraswala accounted for the Diplomats’ other win the last time the teams met, beating Clark in straight games.
Skilled Penn freshman Dan Greenberg, who played in the No. 2 position against Cornell and Western Ontario, adds depth to the top of Penn’s ladder.
“He is tenacious, super fit, moves around the court well, and is very exciting to watch,” Clark said. “He brings an energy to this team.”
However, Greenberg lost both of his first two matches and was defeated by Froot in an internal challenge match last week. As a result he’ll be playing behind the senior captain.
Both Thorpe-Clark and Clark believe that Froot has shown tremendous improvement on and off the court in 2009.
“He has worked really hard and has taken on being a captain so well,” Clark said. “His game on the court has reflected all of his hard work.”
Froot and his teammates look to bounce back from their early season wwoes, as they believe their two losses will not impact the long-term success of their deep team.
“We won’t get bogged down with an early season loss,” Clark asserted. “We have plenty of time to redeem ourselves.”
That time starts tonight agains the Diplomats.
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