ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's squash team continues its travels this week with four matches through the weekend, starting with a pair of tilts Wednesday in Philadelphia against Drexel (noon) and Navy (6 p.m.). The Big Red then returns to Ivy League play with matches noon Saturday at Brown and noon Sunday at Yale.
Cornell (5-6) was last in action Jan. 19-21, when it won two of three matches while traversing the southern Green Mountains. After falling to #11 George Washington, the Big Red rebounded with a big 5-4 win over Franklin & Marshall and a 6-3 decision against Middlebury. Competing at the No. 5 position, senior
Ian Rothweiler recorded his first victories of the season to help spur the Big Red to its victories. Juniors
Alex Jung and
Perry Hanson were also 2-1 on the weekend, with Hanson now leading the team with a 7-4 record while competing primarily at the No. 2 spot.
The results were in line with the Dunlop College Squash Rankings, which left the Big Red holding steady at 15th in the new rankings released Tuesday.
Wednesday's matches represent an opportunity for Cornell to move up, as Drexel (5-8) currently ranks 12th and Navy (14-7) 13th. The Dragons started the season in the nation's 'A' Flight, but has fallen after losses to Princeton and Virginia. Bransten Ming has a team-high seven victories from the top third of the order.
Cornell won its first three matches against Drexel since its program's inception six years ago, but the Dragons have won the most recent three meetings over the last two years. Cornell is 15-12 against Navy, including a first-round match in the Hoehn Cup last year. The Mids haven't moved much in the national rankings this season, merely moving up one spot earlier this month after starting the year 14th.
The Big Red then turns its attention back to league play this weekend. Brown (5-4) is ranked 16th, having narrowly missed an opportunity to move up after dropping a 5-4 decision to Virginia.
Cornell is 24-9 all-time against Brown, including an active 17-match winning streak in the series dating back to a clash in the 2002 National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association national tournament.
Cornell then concludes the weekend against ninth-ranked Yale (7-5), which shook off a five-match losing streak with a pair of 7-2 victories on Saturday against George Washington and Navy. The Big Red is 3-56 against Yale, with the Bulldogs winning last season's meeting in Ithaca by a score of 8-1.
Andy Muran accounted for the Big Red's lone victory, winning at the No. 3 position. Cornell last defeated Yale in 2012 during the quarterfinals of the Potter Cup, which eventually powered Cornell to a program-best fourth-place finish in the national rankings.
