No. 3 men upset by No. 7 F&M, No. 4 women sweep weekend opponents

The No. 3 men’s squash team opened up its season this weekend with an away game against No. 7 Franklin & Marshall on Saturday and No. 11 Williams College at home. The Tigers suffered some ups and downs, with an upset 2-7 loss against the Diplomats and a win against the Ephs 9-0.

The F&M match was an important test for the Tigers to see how a new team and a new coach Sean Wilkinson would work together. Unfortunately, the squash team struggled against the Diplomats. Junior Tyler Osborne and sophomore Michael LeBlanc provided two wins for the Tigers at the second and seventh flights.However, the Tigers had a significantly different outcome at home against Williams, sweeping all flights 3-0 to win the match 9-0.

“Each of us put it upon ourselves to make sure that we were prepared,” senior Dylan Ward said. “Today we really kept together and had a better sense of where we were.”

The reigning Ivy League Champions have come into this year looking to rely on their returning talent. Ward has been a staple in the lineup in the past and has provided many crucial wins for the Tigers, including the clinching win to upset Harvard last year. Junior Samuel Kang and classmate Osbourne will also be critical to winning matches: Kang was an All-American last year and ended his season ranked at No. 9 individually, while Osborne will continue to play in the top three. LeBlanc, sophomore Sam Ezratty, juniors David Hoffman and Taylor Tutrone and last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year Vivek Dinodia will round out the starting lineup.

“We’re really trying to make sure each member of the team feels comfortable and is ready for the big matches that are coming up in January and February,” Ward said.

On the women’s side, the No. 4 Tigers have started out strong. The reigning Ivy League champions swept both No. 15 F&M and No. 13 Williams College in 9-0 victories. Over the course of the weekend, Princeton swept all 27 individual games in each of their matches.

Princeton's success can be attributed to the combination of retuning talent and new faces. The Tigers have eight returning starters this year, as well as the top-ranked player in the U19 division, freshman Maria Elena Ubina.

Senior captains Libby Eyre and Alex Sawin will help lead this team to another successful season, as both have had extremely important wins against Harvard and Yale in the past, and Eyre earned All-America honors last year. Furthermore, the junior trio of Nicole Bunyan, Alex Lunt and Hallie Dewey will also play important roles in the lineup, with Bunyan once again playing in the top three. Sophomores Tara Harrington and Rachel Leizman return to the squad with a year of experience under their belts and a pair of successful seasons: Leizman finished in the top 25 individually, and Harrington matched the team-high of 15 match wins.

Next up for both the men and women is a road trip on Wednesday to nearby Philadelphia, where Princeton will face off against Drexel.