PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania women's squash team is set to head on the road Saturday as they take on the Ivy League Scrimmages in New Haven, Connecticut. The Ivy League scrimmages will give head coach Jack Wyant a good idea of the team as they head into the Penn State Classic next weekend against Franklin and Marshall. 

"A lot of the team is working incredibly hard," Wyant said. "I think that's something that I'm very pleased with."

Last season the Red and Blue finished second at the season's end Howe Cup championship. The Quakers ended the year with a 13-2 record and notched consecutive appearances in the Howe Cup final for the first time in the program's history. 


Returning Talent

Big returners from last year for the Quakers are Reeham Salah, Melissa Alves, and Marie Stephan. Salah and Alves were undefeated at their positions at one and two last season while Stephan made the semi-finals at the CSA Individual Championships and has gone undefeated in two of her three years with the Red and Blue. 

The trio earned a fair share of awards at the end of last season. Salah earned First-Team CSA All-America and won Ivy League Player of the Year losing just two sets all season while also earning Academic All-Ivy honors. Alves earned first-team All-Ivy along with Stephan who also received CSA first-team All-America honors.

Outside of collegiate play, Salah competed in the US Open Squash Championships earlier this year and was named US Squash Athlete of the Year.  The junior lost in the finals at the US Nationals in April and won two matches at the World Team Championship last year, including a win over world number six, Sarah-Jane Perry. 

Said coach Wyant, "I think we benefit greatly from her standard of play and her level of experience."

However, Salah isn't the only Quakers that has professional level experience. Alves won a professional level tournament in Armenia earlier this year and won both her matches at the European Team Championship while Stephan made the qualifying finals at the Granite Open in Canada last year. 

No Sophomore Slump

With the departures of Grace Van Arkel, Michelle Wong, and Anaka Alankamony, the Red and Blue will be looking at a few underclassmen to fill the void. Those players are: Jessica Davis, Clare Kearns, Lindsay Stanley.

We're excited with how Claire, Lindsey, and Jess have done, the sophomore class. They say there's a sophomore slump, but I can tell you, on the women's squash team, there is no sophomore slump," said Wyant. "These ladies have come in, are in great shape, and are working as hard as they can. There's also a really high level of maturity. I think the sophomores have been fantastic so far."

Davis went 11-3 at the number four and five slots last season and finished 6-1 in the Ivy League, Kearns earned a 6-1 record at the eight and nine slots while recording four sweeps, and Stanley compiled nine wins, eight of which were sweeps, at Penn's seven through nine positions. 


Looking at the Ivy Scrimmages

For the first time this season, the Quakers will get to face real competition that isn't against their own in practice. For Coach Wyant he's just excited to get back on the bus,

"I just love the feeling of getting on the bus. Even though we always inevitably hit traffic heading north on 95, I just always love that feeling of getting on the bus with the team for the first time."

Wyant continued, "I think it's always important to see how the Freshmen do. It's their first chance to compete at the collegiate level, there's always a bunch of nerves. So it's exciting to help them through the weekend and try to help them have success. I think it's also a great opportunity for us to practice how we prepare for matches, how we recover after matches, we get to have a bunch of team meals together which is always great."

Season Outlook

For the first time, the Quakers will be playing against players that aren't their own starting the weekend at the Ivy Scrimmages. While the goal is to see where they are as a team and get the early nerves out of the way, Coach Wyant isn't looking too far ahead just yet,

"We've been at or near the top for a long time now. I think the expectations are somewhat engrained, but every year is different. We don't know exactly what other teams have brought in, how the returners are doing. I think we'll have a better sense of where we fit in the larger college squash world in a week or two. We've got huge matches early on verse Drexel and verse Stanford."

Like Wyant said, the Quakers will face tough competition early on in their season. After the Penn State Classic that will be held at the Ringe Squash Courts next weekend, the Red and Blue will head on the road to take on No. 5 Stanford and No. 13 Virginia. 

Penn will begin the new year at home at the Ringe Squash Courts against Ivy League foes Yale and Brown before taking on fellow Big 5 opponent, No. 10 Drexel on January 17 and No. 3 Trinity January 20. 

The Red and Blue will continue Ivy play on January 31 at home against Princeton and conclude at home on February 11 against Columbia.