ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's and women's squash teams will play their first official matches this weekend under David Palmer, the new James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Squash, at the Cornell Round Robin. The 10th-ranked Big Red men's team will host No. 12 Williams at 7 p.m. Friday, No. 23 Western Ontario at 10 a.m. Sunday, and No. 25 Dickinson at 1 p.m. Sunday at Belkin International Squash Courts.
 
With parity in the men's game on the rise, Cornell is looking to return to the College Squash Association's A Division after finishing in second place in the Hoehn Cup with a subsequent season-ending ranking of 10th last year. The Big Red was 9-9, marking the 14th consecutive season in which it won at least half of its matches. Cornell rebounded from a seven-match midseason losing streak with four straight victories in the final weekend of the regular season — including a triumph over then-No. 3 Penn.
 
The Big Red returns the bulk of its lineup, with just two significant contributors graduating last spring. Now a senior co-captain with Kevin Flannery, Harry Freeman competed exclusively at the No. 1 position and finished last year ranked 26th nationally. Sophomore Perry Hanson gives the Big Red more experience from the top third of the lineup. In terms of winning percentage, Cornell also returns its top performers from last year in sophomores Alex Jung (10-2) and Ben Francis (13-4).
 
In last weekend's Ivy League Scrimmages at Yale, the 10th-ranked Big Red posted a pair of 5-4 victories over No. 12 Princeton and No. 8 Dartmouth following a 9-0 loss to No. 5 Harvard. Hanson secured the winning point for Cornell against the Big Green.
 
The Cornell Round Robin is the Big Red's only competition during the fall semester. After this weekend's play, Cornell will resume play by kicking off the Ivy League slate Jan. 14-15 against visiting Yale and Brown.