ITHACA, N.Y. — Returning to action for the first time since Dec. 8, the No. 9-ranked Cornell men's squash team (4-0) will welcome No. 12-ranked Dartmouth (2-2) and No. 6-ranked Harvard (3-1) to the Belkin Squash Courts this weekend to begin Ivy League play.

The Big Red will play its first match of the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 11, when it faces Dartmouth with first matches beginning at 10:30 a.m., before the Big Red shifts its focus to Harvard on Sunday, Jan. 12, for a 10 a.m. start. Both matches will be streamed live free of charge on Stretch Internet.

Cornell, one of five remaining undefeated programs in the College Squash Association, enters this weekend with a 33-3 record in individual matches, tied with No. 4-ranked Trinity for the third-fewest losses in matches this season. Only No. 3-ranked Princeton (26-1) and top-ranked Penn (79-2) have fewer losses so far this season.

A win over Dartmouth on Saturday would improve Cornell's record to 5-0, marking the second consecutive season it won its first five matches on the season. Winning its Ivy League opener would be Cornell's first time opening Ancient Eight play with a 1-0 record since 2021-22, when it defeated Columbia, 5-4, on Dec. 5, 2021. Should Cornell register a weekend sweep of its New England rivals, it would be Cornell's first time starting conference play with two victories since 2013-14, when it defeated Columbia (5-4) and Brown (9-0).

Seniors Aaron Liang (No. 1), Arnaav Sareen (No. 2), Tanay Punjabi (No. 5), Rohan Iyer (No. 6), Shreemann Raghavan (No. 7), sophomore Arnav Tevatia (No. 9), and freshman Youssef Sarhan (No. 4) remain undefeated on the season with identical 4-0 records at their respective positions on the Big Red ladder.

LAST TIME OUT
Cornell improved to 4-0 on the season after registering a clean sweep of No. 19-ranked Amherst on Dec. 8 at the Davenport Squash Courts in Amherst, Mass.

All of Cornell's top seven matches all resulted in three-game victories with seniors Aaron Liang (No. 1), Arnaav Sareen (No. 2), Tanay Punjabi (No. 5), Rohan Iyer (No. 6), and Shreemann Raghavan (No. 7), sophomore Syan Singh (No. 3), and freshman Youssef Sarhan (No. 4) cruising to their victories.

Freshman Roman Bicknell (No. 8) and sophomore Arnav Tevatia (No. 9) both registered four-game victories after falling in their first games.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth enters the weekend with a 2-2 record and 0-1 mark in Ivy League play after falling to Harvard, 8-1, on Dec. 4. The Big Green's two victories have come against the University of Rochester (Nov. 17) and Amherst (Dec. 6) by 8-1 scores, while the other defeat came in its last match against Virginia, 6-3, on Dec. 7.

Christian Shah, Quintin Campbell, and Felix Feldman lead the Big Green in wins, all of whom have gone 3-1 in Dartmouth's four matches. Mac Aube, Callan Venkatesan, and Brandon Wang have registered 2-2 marks early on in the season.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST DARTMOUTH
Dartmouth holds the lead in the all-time series with Cornell, 44-25, despite Cornell winning each of the last six matches between the Ancient Eight rivals.

Cornell is seeking to extend its win streak to seven matches, which would be the longest win streak over the Big Green since compiling eight wins together between Nov. 24, 2009, and Feb. 2, 2014.

The Big Red defeated Dartmouth twice last season, claiming the regular-season meeting, 6-3, in Hanover, N.H., on Feb. 4, 2024, before posting a 7-2 triumph on March 2 in the championship match of the Potter Cup consolation bracket at the 2024 CSA National Collegiate Team Championships in Philadelphia.

SCOUTING HARVARD
Harvard comes into the weekend with a 3-1 overall record and 1-0 mark in Ivy League play, after its Dec. 4 victory over Dartmouth. The Crimson's two other victories came against Western Ontario, 8-1, on Nov. 16, and against Tufts, 7-2, on Nov. 17, while its lone defeat came in its last outing against Virginia, 5-4, on Dec. 6.

David Costales, Denis Gilveskiy, Neel Joshi, and Segev Rome are all 4-0 in their respective matches. Jacob Lin and Louis Murray both have 3-1 records on the year.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST HARVARD
Harvard has had the upper hand in the series against Cornell, holding a 55-2 edge in the all-time series. Cornell will be looking to snap its 15-match losing streak to the Crimson and register its first win over Harvard since prevailing, 7-2, on Dec. 4, 2010, also at the Belkin Squash Courts.

Both of Cornell's victories over Harvard have come at the Belkin Squash Courts, as the first victory came on Dec. 6, 2008, in a 6-3 decision.

Each of the last nine meetings have featured the Crimson winning at least eight matches against the Big Red. Last year, Veer Chotrani posted a four-game victory over Costales, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, for Cornell's lone win in an 8-1 setback against Harvard.