PHILADELPHIA - After a successful 5-0 start and rise to number four in the College Squash Association (CSA) ranks, the University of Pennsylvania women's squash team will begin its Ivy League slate this weekend. The Quakers return to the court for the first time in more than a month as they head to New Haven for a top-10 clash with No. 6 Yale on Saturday before wrapping up their first Ivy road trip of the season with another top-10 match against No. 10 Brown.
Previewing Penn
Penn finished the first half of the season at No. 4 in the CSA rankings with two top-10 wins on their resume. The women are back in the top-five for the first time since the beginning of last season.
Headlined by wins over No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Drexel, the Quakers are 5-0 for the first time since the 2014 season when they went 14-3 and won the Ivy League title.
Penn's 5-0 start has not come without its share of close matches. Three of the Red and Blue's five wins have come by the score of 5-4. Against Drexel and Virginia, it was
Lindsay Stanley who earned the clinching point while freshman Julia Tamer won a five-game thriller to send the Quakers to victory against the Cardinal.
At the top of the Quaker lineup,
Reeham Salah,
Jessica Davis,
Julia Buchholz, and
Lindsay Stanley are each a perfect 5-0. In the one and two slots, Salah and Davis have yet to lose a single game.
#4 Penn at #6 Yale - Saturday, 12:00 p.m.
Series Information
Record: Penn trails 25-35 (16-19 at Yale) | Last meeting: January 13, 2018 (Yale 5-4)
The Quakers fell to the Bulldogs last season in dramatic, 5-4 fashion at Ringe. Penn took wins at the one, two, and three slots thanks to Salah,
Melissa Alves, and
Marie Stephan. However, the Red and Blue took just one more match with then freshman
Julia Buchholz earning a win at number six.
Yale has started the year 4-0 which included a 9-0 win over Drexel. The Bulldogs also have wins over Brown, Amherst, and Tufts which were all 9-0 sweeps as well.
#4 Penn at #10 Brown - Saturday, 1:00 p.m.
Series Information
Record: Penn leads 29-15 (12-9 at Brown) | Last meeting: January 14, 2018 (Penn 9-0)
The Quakers have won 17 in a row against Brown which includes the last two by the score of 9-0. Penn swept six of its nine wins in last season's meeting.
The Bears are 2-1 this season with a 6-3 win over George Washington and a 7-2 win over Bates. Their only loss was a 9-0 defeat to Yale.
