WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The men's squash team will play its first regular-season matches of the year on Friday and Saturday, when it takes on the hosts at 5 p.m. Friday, then Dickinson and Western Ontario at noon and 5 p.m., respectively, on Saturday.
 
Cornell will be looking to return to the College Squash Association's A Division this season after posting a 7-12 record last year. The Big Red finished fourth at the season-ending Hoehn Cup, which subsequently landed it a final national ranking of 12th in its first year under David Palmer, the James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Squash. Cornell remains 12th in the CSA's preseason rankings.
 
The Big Red returns two of its top three entries from last year. Junior Andy Muran was 9-10 in dual matches from the top three positions, and advanced to the semifinals of his bracket at the College Squash Association' Individual Championships in early March. Junior Perry Hanson was also 9-10 last year from the Nos. 2 and 3 positions, and joins Muran and senior Jordan Brail as the team's tri-captains for the new campaign. With a 18-10 career record from the lower portion of the order, junior Alex Jung also returns.
 
Cornell unofficially started up Nov. 4-5 at the Ivy League Scrimmages, hosted by Yale. The Big Red opened with a 9-0 loss to #4 Columbia, but with most matches competitive. Though not part of the score, junior Kenan Ong won his match at #10. The second match of the weekend was also a 9-0 loss, to #8 Princeton, with junior Ben Francis coming close in a five-set loss. Cornell wrapped up the weekend with a narrow 5-4 loss to #19 Brown. Sophomore Jared Scherl battled back from 2-0 down to win in five, and sophomore transfer James Paolella got his first victory over the weekend in four.
 
The Big Red is opening against the same three teams it opposed to start the 2016-17 season. Those matches all took place in Ithaca, with Cornell easily winning each — 9-0 over Williams, 7-2 over Western Ontario and 8-1 over Dickinson. Cornell is 14-16 all-time against 20th-ranked Williams and 13-27 against 13th-ranked Western Ontario, but it's won its last eight matches against both programs dating back to the 2008-09 season. Last season's meeting was the first ever between Cornell and 22nd-ranked Dickinson.