The Wash U Men’s Squash team hosted their first home tournament in their recently renovated facilities. Two new courts had been converted from racquetball as the team continues to develop the Grimm Racquet Courts. Wash U hosted #41 ranked Northwestern University, and #62 ranked Indiana University. The young Wash U roster came out with something to prove.

Northwestern (7-0, 7-1, 7-1) d. Washington University

Wash U started off fiery for a win after starting the season cold at 0-2, due to a series of injuries. Wash U came out hot against the experienced lineup of Northwestern with #3 William Leung (2020) winning his first two games 11-4, 11-6. Northwestern came back, and forced a fifth game, eventually winning 12-10 in the final game. Wash U struggled in their three matches against Northwestern, but William Leung came back showing determination and grit to win his last two matches in five games each.

Washington University (7-0, 7-0)  d. Indiana University

After a tough loss to Northwestern, Wash U battle for their first win against the first year team from Indiana University. Both teams were full of young player. Wash U defended their home courts, winning both matches 7-0, marking the first wins for freshman Reid Parisi and Thomas Robbins.

Looking forward:

Following Their win to Indiana University, Wash U hopes to bring some momentum into the upcoming Nationals at the H-Cup in Hartford Connecticut. With many players first appearance at nationals, Wash U is looking to win its division to move upwards next year and reclaim its position in the middle ranks of College squash.

This past weekend (November 21-23) the Men’s Squash team traveled up to Evanston, Illinois to play Northwestern, University of Chicago, Duke, & USC in our fall tournament. The team had a great weekend with a record of 2-2.  We lost to Northwestern (5-4) and University of Chicago (8-1), however beat Duke (9-0) and USC (5-4).  It was great to get some of our newer players out on the courts who have never played in a formal tournament setting before.  The weekend showed us where we stand relative to last year and gives us a real view at where we need to improve.  We look forward to a great rest of the season!

From the College Squash Association:

This year marked Chicago’s debut at the Men’s National Team Championships, and the Maroons reached the Serues Cup final on their first try. Their opponents, Washington University in St. Louis, had won the G Division in 2011. Wash U took the lead in the first flight of matches, going up 2-1. That pattern held throughout the match. Wash U won two matches in the second flight, and Chicago stayed in it with another win. Wash U clinched in the final flight, adding the Serues Cup to their growing collection of hardware. The final score was Wash U 6, Chicago 3. – http://collegesquashassociation.com/2014/02/16/2014-mens-national-team-championships-group-1-finals/

The specific results:

http://modules.ussquash.com/ssm/pages/tournaments/draw.asp?event_id=3549&event_id2=212

Season record: 9-1

Here is the Women’s College Squash Association Season Preview.

http://collegesquashassociation.com/2013/10/12/washington-university-st-louis-2013-2014-womens-college-squash-season-preview/

Some highlights to note are:

1) 10 new players!

2) Multiple matches scheduled, starting with Lake Forest in November.

3) First time in 9 player division.

The 2013-2014 season is about to get started with the first practices for the men’s and women’s teams in October.  The schedule will soon be posted but for now, here is the College Squash Association’s Season Preview:

http://collegesquashassociation.com/2013/09/29/washington-university-st-louis-2013-2014-mens-college-squash-season-preview/

Welcome back everyone!

The year is kicking off with a new squash ladder.  Whether a recreational or competitive player, be sure to join.  Go to: http://www.squash-ladder.com/find_ladder.asp and search Wash U in the United States to join.  Good luck!

Here are pictures from the Navy RR (courtesy of Book H.)

Annapolis, MD

After a long weekend, the Washington University squash team returns home with two victories, a hard fought match against Johns Hopkins (3-6) and Bucknell (4-5).  In the Bucknell match, there were multiple 5-setters, including Book’s match in which he had 2 match points.  The Johns Hopkins match was just as close, with multiple 4 and 5 setters.  The detailed results can be seen on the US Squash page.  The matches did not return the results they had hoped for. However, due to the fact that they were missing their top two players, they are confident that as the season progresses, their ranking will improve. The team says they look forward to the rest of the season, including planned trips to Boston and Nationals at Yale.

A big thank you goes out to the parents who came to support. Photos will be posted shortly.

According to the recently released preseason rankings, Wash U is now #35, moving ahead of Denison (36) to become the number one team in the Midwest.  This is due to the return of players Sheldon and Stirling from abroad and the addition of 3 freshmen and junior Dylan Reid who was a top ranked  racquetball player in high school.

This weekend, the team travels to Navy for its east coast trip of the semester.  The teams playing are the Naval Academy (13), Johns Hopkins (28), Bucknell (34) and Denison (36).

The schedule is:

The Wash U squash team started off the season with back to back wins against UI-Springfield and Vanderbilt University. The team won 9-0 against both teams, winning 54 games total and losing only one. Freshmen Mark Temple, Lyall Cooper and Trevor Newman start their collegiate careers with one win and no losses.

Vanderbilt vs. Wash U Intros

In other news at the round robin, Vanderbilt beat UI-Springfield 8-1.  The high school MICDS also competed in the round robin, playing very competitive matches against the collegiate teams.

The team looks forward to next weekend with matches against Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, Denison, Navy and Navy B.