COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY The men's team will be missing two top starters for the rest of the season.

Unsatisfied at 13-2, men's squash sets its sights on the ISA team tournament

Last season, Talbott guided his club to a team-record 16 wins and a No. 3 national ranking. They have continued to play fairly strongly this year, currently standing at No. 4 in the nation behind Trinity, Princeton, and Harvard. The team is currently 13-2, after a 5-4 victory over No. 6 Denison last Sat., Feb. 12. "It was closer than we expected, definitely," Peter Grote, SM '02, who plays in the No. 2 spot, said.

Despite their high ranking and impressive record, several players expressed dissatisfaction with the season thus far. "I'd say our season has been pretty up and down. We had definitely hoped to do better against Princeton," Robert Gilpin, TC '01, the No. 4 player, said. On Sat., Feb. 5, Yale was beaten 9-0 by the Tigers, who are led by Peter Yik, last year's individual national champion. "Losing to Princeton was a really big letdown," Grote said. Gilpin echoed Grote's sentiment: "We can beat Princeton, but we just didn't play well. We could've had five matches if everything came together. If we decide to play, we can do something."

The team's other loss came on Wed., Jan. 19 to Trinity, the defending national champions. The Bulldogs only managed to win a few games in the match, losing 9-0 overall. "Trinity will definitely win the national championship for the second year in a row," Grote said. "Their team is loaded with foreign talent—I think their starting lineup contains only two Americans—and their president has really focused on squash. They're just on another level, far above even Princeton."

M. Squash

Record: 13-2, 4-1 Ivy Recent Results: Won vs. Denison, 5-4 Sat., Feb. 12. Coming Up: Sat., Feb. 19 vs. Amherst; Wed., Feb. 23 vs. Harvard; ISAs Fri., Feb. 26 to Sun., Feb. 28.

After matches against Amherst on Sat., Feb. 19 and Harvard on Wed., Feb. 23, the Elis conclude the season with the ISA Team Championship on the weekend of Fri., Feb. 25. Amherst should pose little threat to the Bulldogs. "They're pretty terrible, we shouldn't have a problem with them," Gilpin said. Harvard could prove to be more of a challenge. "We played them in a scrimmage in November and had some trouble, losing 8-1," Grote said. "But now with some lineup changes we have a better shot." Gilpin added, "Harvard's No. 1 player, Tim Wyant, is very tough, probably the No. 2 player in college squash. Our No. 1, Kris Weiner [PC '00], will have a tough time beating him, but we could conceivably win eight matches."

Despite the tough challenge presented by Harvard, the team is still looking ahead to the ISA Team Championship. "The team tournament is the focus of our whole season," Gilpin said.

At the tournament, Yale will take on Williams in the first round. Yale beat Williams 6-3 on Fri., Jan. 14, but will head into the rematch missing two starters. Chris Olsen, SM '02, who had been playing in the No. 4 spot, suffered a stress fracture in his femur earlier in the season and is now taking the semester off. Additionally, No. 6 Josh Barenbaum, CC '01, has been slowed by a chronic back injury and is almost certainly lost for the tournament. "We can definitely beat Williams, but we have to pull together without Chris and Josh in there," Gilpin said. "The freshmen, Aftab Mathur [MC '03] and Ziad Haider [BK '03], are playing pretty well right now [at the seven and eight spots], showing us something we hadn't seen in earlier matches. They will be absolutely key versus Williams." Gilpin also stressed the importance of Weiner's role: "He's shutting his mouth and playing really hard right now. We have not had a solid No. 1 like him for a couple of years now."

Should Yale get past Williams, they would meet Trinity in the semifinals. Barring a highly improbable win there, they would move on to a rematch with either Harvard or Princeton in the consolation match for third place. "We'll look to take care of business versus Harvard or Princeton," Gilpin said.

Both Gilpin and Grote were excited about the team's prospects for the next few seasons. "We've had a promising year, and have some solid recruits for next year, Gilpin said. "Freddy Bouchardy [BK '01] is playing much better at No. 5, and he'll continue to improve." Also, Olsen will have had ample time to recover from his injury for the start of next season, and Brian Smith, who is currently taking a year off to sing for the Whiffenpoofs, will also return. As only two current starters—including captain Deji Olukotun, CC '00—are seniors, the majority of the team will return for next season. "Princeton is just great this year, but next year we will be up there with them as our team matures," Grote said. But, in all likelihood, the Bulldogs will continue to play second fiddle to Trinity on the national level for years to come. As Grote summed up, "They are, and will continue to be, the class of college squash."

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