No. 1 Trinity thumps men's squash, 8-1

This weekend the men's squash team (14-3 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) finished off the 2003-04 regular season with a whirlwind of competitive matches against Trinity (11-0), Amherst (9-6) and Williams (16-7). Although the Tigers lost to Trinity, 8-1, they easily shut out both Amherst and Williams, 9-0.

These results cemented Princeton as the No. 4-ranked team in the nation, behind No. 3 Harvard, No. 2 Yale and No. 1 Trinity. Since the Bantams remain the top team in men's squash and Princeton is still coping with the loss of four All-Americans from last year's squad, the loss to Trinity this weekend was not as disappointing as one might expect.

"Our team is very young, with five freshmen in the top nine," senior Aaron Zimmerman said. "We knew it would be a challenge so we simply wanted to put forth a valiant effort."

At least one Tiger player, sophomore No. 1 Yasser El Halaby, was able to provide such an effort. He beat his opponent, Michael Ferreira, in straight games to give Princeton its only win of the day. Ferreira is one of the top individual players in the nation, and his defeat confirmed El Halaby's position as the No. 1 singles player in the country.

As the defending individual national champion, El Halaby will be the Tigers' most promising contender in the upcoming postseason.

Outside expectations for the team in the postseason are not high, but the team does not buy into these low standards.

"We are always trying to aim high," El Halaby said. "We're not going to be satisfied getting to the [national] semifinals."

Young but talented

Junior No. 4 Nate Beck, the only player on the squad other than El Halaby to win a game, and junior No. 5 Dent Wilkens also performed very well, demonstrating that though the Tigers may be young, they are by no means lacking talent and intensity.

All five Tiger freshmen in the top nine lost to their Trinity counterparts. No. 2 Vincent Yu fell to Trinity's former No. 1 Bernardo Samper. No. 3 Michael Gilman lost the first game of his match by a respectable 9-7 before Yvain Badan took control and rolled to the easy 3-0 win. Trinity's squad of talented international competitors overwhelmed the rest of Princeton's players. Despite this domination, the Tigers were able to take something out of the match against such a sqash juggernaut.

"Most of us were happy with how we played," El Halaby said. "We know Trinity is the strongest team in the country. We just wanted to play our best and see what happens."

"Everyone thinks we are weaker," El Halaby said. "We are still going to fight and do our best."

On Sunday, the Tigers closed the regular season with two of their easiest matches of the season, the first against No. 11 Amherst and the second against No. 9 Williams.

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Princeton not only swept both of its matches, 9-0, but also dropped only three total games over the course of the day.

Head coach Bob Callahan was able to rest much of his usual top nine and give other players an opportunity against Amherst. Against Williams, Callahan again went back to his best nine, and the results were exactly as expected.

With their easy wins over Amherst and Williams, the Tigers are poised to enter the postseason on a positive note.

Princeton's future opportunities to solidify its league rank include another chance to face Yale and Harvard, two of the team's traditional rivals, who beat the Tigers earlier this season, 6-3 and 7-2, respectively.

In the first round of the College Squash Association National Championships, Princeton will face No. 5 Dartmouth. The Tigers defeated the Big Green, 9-0, earlier this season and are confident about their chances of moving on to compete against the top three teams.

With a young and constantly maturing team, this season has been full of surprises and successes. Princeton has proven its strength despite graduating half of its starters last season. With any hope, the postseason will simply offer another arena for the Tigers to play their best squash and realize their lofty hopes.