Corey Henry

First is the worst, second is the best, third is the one who’s best at chess. That may not be the way that nursery rhyme goes, but for one Penn squash player, the saying rings true. Junior Anders Larsson has been involved with squash for quite a long time, but for such a physically taxing sport, one of his greatest assets comes from his time playing a board game: chess.

January 14, 2017. Head coach of Penn women’s squash Jack Wyant may not personally have the date circled on his calendar, but the eyes of the college squash community will undoubtedly be on Philadelphia as Harvard heads to Ringe for a rematch of last year’s Howe Cup finals. But before either team makes it to that January matchup, they’ll have to battle through the brunt of their non-conference slate if they want to retain their spots at the top of the CSA rankings.

Call it halloWeekend now. After losing four of their last five Ivy matchups, Penn volleyball busted out of their rut in a big way, picking up victories over both Harvard and Dartmouth on the road. The 3-0 win over Harvard (6-13, 4-6 Ivy) was especially meaningful as it marked the first season since 2010 where Penn (10-12, 5-5) won both matchups with the Crimson.

It seems that the Quakers have run into a hiccup on their path of development. Hopefully a Halloween road trip weekend can scare them into shape. Staring down yet another middle of the pack Ivy finish, Penn volleyball will try to finish strong in the second half and put a scare into their Ancient Eight counterparts ahead of them in the standings. The last time the Quakers (8-12, 3-5 Ivy) tangled with the two northeastern schools, it resulted in a 2-0 homestand for Penn as they eked out a close five-set victory over Dartmouth (8-11, 1-7 Ivy) before taking down Harvard (6-11, 4-4 Ivy) in four sets on national TV. Since that weekend, the Red and Blue have been reeling, losing four of their last five.

Before US Open champions Mohammed El Shorbaghy for the men and Camille Serme for the women are presented with their trophies, they will wait for head coach of the Penn women’s squash team to call their name. For the past four years, Gilly Lane has made the trek next door to Drexel University to serve as an emcee for the yearly US Open of Squash tournament. Before every match, the emcee is responsible for introducing each of the players and giving a quick bio before getting the crowd pumped up for the game.

On the second day of Fall, Penn had a hard time standing up to a much more experienced Tiger squad at the Palestra. After battling back to force a decisive fifth set in their Ivy opener, Princeton took control en route to a victory over the Quakers.

It was a trial by fire for Penn women’s soccer this weekend, as they fell victim to a powerful Maryland side led by a familiar face under the sweltering heat at Rhodes Field.

After a disappointing 13-13 finish to the season last season, head coach Kerry Carr has decided to make an offseason splash that she hopes will set Penn Volleyball up for future success. Newest assistant coach Scott Schweihofer joins Carr’s staff in the hopes of bringing the Ivy title back to Philadelphia for the first time since 2010. After spending the last two years at George Mason University as the team’s top assistant and recruiting coordinator, Schweihofer comes to Penn after helping the Patriots to their best single-season win total in six years.

Don't let the name fool you, some members of Penn softball have become known for how hard they ball.

When it rains, it pours. In the final action of the season for both of Penn’s golf teams, a bottom half finish was unavoidable for both squads. Faced with the task of defending their 2015 Ivy crown, the men’s team found themselves in a similar situation to last year’s tournament.