Tigers start Ivy slate with win at Cornell

If there were any concerns that the freshmen on the men's squash team would not be able to handle the pressures of college play or that the veterans had lost their touch, this weekend's tournament proved those doubters wrong. Out of 18 matches, the Tigers only lost one.

"We have lofty ambitions this year, and our performance gave us reason to feel good that we are on the right path," head coach Bob Callahan said.

On Sunday, Princeton (2-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., for its first official tournament of the season. In the morning, the Tigers started off a little slow after arriving late the night before but still managed to take out Western Ontario, 8-1. In the afternoon, however, Princeton really heated up and avenged last year's loss to Cornell, 9-0.

"This is a good start to the season for the team. I think we all played pretty well," senior Yasser El Halaby said.

El Halaby, on a quest this season for an unprecedented fourth straight national championship, provided the dominant play that the team has come to expect in the No. 1 spot.

Rolling over his opponent in the morning, El Halaby took the court again in the afternoon for his first official Ivy League game of the season. He made quick work of Cornell's Willie Cheng in straight games, 9-3, 9-0, 9-5.

Unlike last year, depth was not a problem in the opening matches. Last year, the Tigers were struck with a rut of bad luck with injuries and losses of key players. Not only did Yasser not drop a match this weekend, but every other player, except for one, won both matches of the day. No. 5 seed sophomore Michael Gilman lost his first match against Western Ontario, but rallied in the afternoon to easily take out his Big Red opponent. Gilman dropped Cornell's Ben Bernstein, 9-4, 9-3, 9-1.

No. 6 seed sophomore Vincent Yu turned in a standout match against the Big Red's Nick Raho, taking the match without Raho scoring a single point. No. 8 senior Nate Beck, who took last year off from Princeton, proved that he was once again ready for the challenges of Ivy League competition by taking his match against Cornell's Ben Stokes in three quick games, 9-5, 9-0, 9-3.

Freshmen shine

The big story of this weekend was the success that the team's three new freshmen enjoyed. This weekend, Mauricio Sanchez, Kimlee Wong and Hesham El Halaby claimed the No. 2 through 4 spots on the ladder. Despite a lack of collegiate experience, the freshmen nevertheless proved themselves quite capable of playing at this level. In their contest against the Big Red, they not only won all of their matches, but also dropped only one game along the way.

Hesham lost the first game of his match against former No. 1 player Matt Serediak, but he was able to come back, taking the next three games and the match easily.

"They did just great. They more than lived up to their preseason billing," Callahan said. "It's remarkable how quickly [Sanchez] is getting back to his high standard. Kimlee Wong is playing a beautiful game. Hesham is even more talented than I realized."

Still, despite the strong team effort, the Tigers realize that there are elements of their game that will need to be improved before they compete against more dangerous squads.

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"Maybe we need to work a little bit more in our fitness, but our racquet skills are crazy," Sanchez said. "Individually ... I feel I'm improving every day. I would say the same thing about the team. We're playing not that well, but we're improving a lot every day."

Princeton will have its next match at home on Nov. 30 against Franklin and Marshall. The Tigers, who are favored in the matchup, will look to give some of their non-starting players a chance to get back in the game and bring home a win.