ITHACA, N.Y. – The No. 8-ranked Cornell men's squash team returns to action this weekend against a pair of Ivy League teams who are ranked in the top 3 of the CSA Squash rankings.

Cornell (5-0), who is off to its best start since the 2012-13 season, looks to carry over its impressive start in 2022 into the new year when it hosts Penn at the Belkin Squash Courts on Friday before heading to the Garden State to square off against Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium on Sunday.

Over its first five matches, the Big Red have dropped just three of the 39 games played. Veer Chotrani is a perfect 5-0 at the No. 1 spot on the Big Red ladder, while Arnaav Sareen and Spencer Yager are both 4-0. Nicholas Göth Errington, Morgan Huberman, Rohan Iyer, and Tanay Punjabi have won all three of its matches.

Scouting Penn

Penn, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the CSA Squash rankings, is a perfect 6-0 on the year, having won five of its matches by perfect 9-0 scores. The lone two matchups the Quakers dropped came on Nov. 13 against then-No. 7 Drexel.

Nathan Kueh has won all eight matches on the year, which have come between the No. 1 and 3 spots in Penn's lineup. Rehan Luthra (7-0) and Saksham Choudhary (7-1) each have seven wins on the year.

Last year, Cornell was swept by the Quakers, who were ranked No. 1 at the time of the match. Charles Culhane (No. 4), Nikhil Iyer (No. 5), Nick Robinson (No. 7), and Humza Khan (No. 8) were the lone Big Red players to earn set victories.

Penn has had the upper-hand in the series of late, winning the last five matches and posting four straight 9-0 victories. Cornell has not won a match against the Quakers since Jordan Brail won a five-set match during the 2016-17 campaign.

Cornell's last victory over Penn came on Feb. 14, 2016, when it defeated the Quakers by a 5-4 score.

Scouting Princeton

Princeton is right behind Penn in the CSA Squash rankings, currently ranking No. 3 nationally.

The Tigers have played only one match so far on the year, posting a 7-2 victory over Rochester on Dec. 4. Princeton opens Ivy League play on Friday when it travels to Columbia.

In its victory over Rochester, Princeton posted six 3-0 victories, all of which came from the No. 4 spot down.

Last year, Cornell fell to the Tigers, 8-1, at the Belkin Squash Courts. Khan was the lone Cornell player to win his match following a retirement.

Cornell has not defeated Princeton since Feb. 12, 2016, when it defeated the Tigers, 5-4, on its home court.

Looking Ahead

 Cornell will return to the road next weekend when it travels to the Nutmeg State to take on Trinity College (Jan. 21) and Yale (Jan. 22). The match against Trinity is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, while the Ivy League match with the Bulldogs is slated for noon.