ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's squash team gets its regular season started with non-league matches this weekend at Penn Squash Center in Philadelphia. The Big Red opens against Bates at 1 p.m. Saturday before taking on Virginia at 11 a.m. Sunday. Live scoring is scheduled to be available through csasquash.com.
 
Cornell is returning for the first time since a 2019-20 season that saw the team post a 7-11 record. Two of those victories came in the College Squash Association's Hoehn Cup – the 'B' flight of the team national championships – leading to a second-place finish in that particular event and a final national ranking of 10th. The College Squash Association's preseason rankings are a little more bullish on the Big Red, currently pegging the team at ninth – which, if Cornell can improve that mark at all by season's end, would lead to the program's first return to the top flight of the national championships since 2013-14.
 
At the forefront of the optimism around the Big Red is a remarkable amount of depth, despite the long layoff dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven of the team's most regular starting nine from two years ago return, led by first-team All-America selection junior Veer Chotrani. Senior Nicholas Göth Errington was tied with Chotrani for the team lead in victories with a matching 11-7 individual record. Senior Charles Culhane (7-11) and junior Nikhil Arjunan Iyer join Chotrani in helping the Big Red return the entirety of its top third.
 
On top of all the incumbent talent, Cornell also imports a promising group of nine newcomers consisting of four sophomore and five freshmen. Of that group, sophomore Spencer Yager (6.07) holds the highest US Squash rating, joining Chotrani and Culhane atop the 6.0 threshold.
 
The Big Red opens at 1 p.m. Saturday against a young Bates side that will have more newcomers than returners, carrying a national ranking of 22nd into the weekend. Cornell holds a 13-5 advantage in the all-time series between the programs, which has been idle since a 7-2 Big Red victory over Jan. 19, 2013.
 
The weekend concludes with an 11 a.m. match on Sunday against Virginia (1-2). The Cavaliers carry a preseason ranking of seventh, though they could potentially slide a little based on a 6-3 loss to eighth-ranked Yale last Saturday. Aly Hussein (#1) and Omar El Torkey (#2) boast early 3-0 records from the top of the lineup. Cornell is winless in four meetings with Virginia since the program gained varsity status in 2017.