The Virginia men’s and women’s squash teams had a busy weekend, traveling to take on Pennsylvania Friday in Philadelphia and Princeton on Saturday in New Jersey before heading back to Philadelphia for a neutral-site matchup with Cornell on Sunday.
Friday, Nov. 19
The No. 5 Cavalier women (3-2) kicked off the weekend in Philadelphia at the Penn Squash Center with a 5-4 victory over the No. 9 Quaker women (6-2).
The hard-fought match came down to a decisive final game in which freshman Maureen Foley—playing in the ninth spot — came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Pennsylvania junior Euwie Park in five sets, 6-11, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10, 11-5.
The No. 8 Cavalier men (2-4), however, were unable to start their weekend off with a win as they fell 8-1 to the undefeated No. 1 Quaker men (8-0).
The top-ranked Quakers lived up to their reputation in the dominant victory over Virginia on Friday. Five of their eight wins came in straight sets and only sophomore Myles McIntyre was able to secure a point for Virginia as he defeated Pennsylvania graduate student Yash Bhargava in five sets.
Saturday, Nov. 20
On the second day of their road trip, the Cavaliers hit a bump in the road at the Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J., as both the men and women fell to Princeton.
The women dropped their match 6-3 against the No. 3 Tigers (3-0) but were able to get wins from three of their top four players — sophomore Megan Best, junior Maria Moya and senior Emma Jinks.
At the top of the ladder, Best improved to 3-1 on the season.
“The women were warriors out there today, and pushed the Tigers all the way to the limit,” Coach Mark Allen said. “I am proud to coach a team with the guts and determination these ladies possess.”
The No. 3 Tigers (2-0) opened their season Saturday against the Virginia men with a narrow, 5-4 win.
Each of the Cavaliers’ top three players on the ladder was able to come away with a victory, including an impressive five-set win by junior Aly Hussein over Princeton senior Youssef Ibrahim, the No. 17 ranked player in the world.
Sunday, Nov. 21
The Cavaliers returned to the Penn Squash Center in Philadelphia on Sunday for a neutral-site match with Cornell to conclude their three-day road trip.
The Virginia women bookended their weekend with another 5-4 win, squeaking out a victory over the No. 8 Big Red women (2-1).
Jinks — who went 3-0 in her matches over the weekend — started off the match with a win in four sets over Cornell freshman Ananya Dabke, and freshman Maureen Foley and senior Caroline Baldwin clinched the victory with back-to-back straight set victories.
The Virginia men also finished their weekend on a high note, securing a 5-4 win over the No. 9 Big Red men (1-1).
Junior Omar El Torkey started off the match with a straight set win in the No. 2 position, 11-4, 11-5, 12-10, and Hussein finished off the victory in five sets over Cornell junior Veer Chotrani.
After falling behind 2-0, Hussein flipped the switch and battled back to tie the match before slamming the door shut with an 11-3 win in the fifth set to secure the victory for the Cavaliers.
“This hard- fought and confidence-boosting win has come just at the right time and we can now look forward to a run of five home game matches,” Allen said.
The Virginia men and women return to action Friday, Dec. 3 in their home-openers against Dartmouth at the McArthur Squash Center.
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