Momentum: entering the weekend, the men’s squash team was looking to find it after a loss to Franklin & Marshall, while the women’s side was looking to sustain it after opening the season with two 9-0 victories.
And in their weekend matchups with Yale, Bates and Brown, both teams took two matches en route to accomplishing those goals.
The men (2-3, 1-2 Ivy) were swept by Yale (2-0, 2-0 Ivy) 9-0 before rebounding to sweep Bates (4-2, 2-0 NESCAC) 9-0 and defeat Brown (2-3, 0-3 Ivy) 7-2.
On the women’s side, the Quakers (3-1, 1-1 Ivy) lost a heartbreaker to Yale, 5-4, before sweeping the Bobcats (4-2, 2-0 NESCAC)and Bears (1-3, 0-3 Ivy).
Both teams are already looking past their respective losses to the Bulldogs.
“Yale is ranked No. 2, so you kind of have to come in wanting to work hard and do your best, but a win is definitely not expected,” senior co-captain James Clark said. “A loss isn’t exactly a surprise, so I don’t think we were all that disappointed with the result.”
Senior women’s captain Annie Medeira had a similar outlook.
“We can’t be too negative about it because it was a big improvement from when we lost 7-2 to them a couple weeks ago at our scrimmages against Yale,” she said.
Instead of being negative, Penn seemed to come out with extra fuel when they took on Bates less than an hour after the Yale matches wrapped up.
“It’s always good to win like that, and I’m sure some of us were taking out a bit of aggression from that morning,” Madeira said.
While the women cruised to another sweep, the men topped Bates to pick up their first win under coach Jack Wyant.
“It was special for them, and to be honest, it was special for me too,” Wyant said.
And after splitting Saturday’s games, both teams warded off fatigue to overwhelm Brown in Providence.
“I think by the end of the third match everybody was feeling the effects of the three matches over the weekend,” Clark said. “It takes a little extra to come through with three solid matches.”
The men will square off with Navy at Ringe Squash Courts on Thursday, while the women will have a little more time to rest up before their next match, which isn’t until Jan. 15, when they take on Williams.
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