ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell women's squash team, ranked No. 8 in the College Squash Association preseason rankings, opens its 2026-27 season Sunday at noon against No. 9 Columbia at the Belkin Squash Courts.
The Big Red returns seven of the nine players who regularly anchored its ladder a year ago and adds a three-player freshman class that head coach David Palmer expects to crack the starting nine right away. Cornell went 8-9 overall and 3-3 in Ivy League regular-season play last winter, earning a spot in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament.
"We've been very impressed with the preseason. We've got strong captains this year and good experience in the top order of our lineup," said Palmer, who begins his 11th season as the James Broadhead '57 Head Coach of Cornell Squash. "Our goals, like always, are to qualify for the Ivy Championships top four again and maintain a top-eight national ranking, so that when we get to the national championships, we have a good seeding."
Senior Xin Ying Yee, a two-time CSA First Team All-American and a 2025 CSA Individual Championships semifinalist, returns at No. 1 after going 10-4 at the top spot last season.
"For her, it would be to try to again make the semifinals of the individuals, with the goal of trying to win the individual championship," Palmer said. "On a day at her best level, that's more than achievable."
Cornell must replace Aishwarya Khubchandani and Alysa Ali, who graduated after spending most of last season at No. 2 and No. 3. Sophomore Vicky Lai is slated to step in at No. 2, with junior Sabine Ball and senior Christa Kay expected at No. 3 and No. 4. Freshman Alexie Tan is projected to start at No. 5.
"Sometimes it takes freshmen a season or two to find their feet," Palmer said. "But to have all three of them in the starting nine, and some of our more experienced players stepping up the lineup, we still feel we can achieve those goals."
Tan is joined by fellow first-years Eloise Levin and Lucy Pierce. Senior Maya Voloshin (6-7 at No. 7), senior Saniya Jaggi (5-7 at No. 8) and sophomore Lamees Shalaby (5-7 at No. 9) return to a back of the order Palmer counts as a strength, though Jaggi is expected to miss the opener.
"I feel like we probably have 11 or 12 players that could play in the starting nine, which is a great problem to have," Palmer said.
After Columbia, Cornell faces No. 3 Stanford in Norwalk, Conn., on Nov. 21 and visits No. 5 Trinity on Nov. 22. Four of the Big Red's final five regular-season matches are at home, including Ivy dates with No. 10 Dartmouth (Feb. 6), No. 6 Harvard (Feb. 7) and No. 2 Penn (Feb. 14). The Ivy League Tournament follows Feb. 20-21, and the CSA National Team Championships are set for March 4-7 at Princeton.
