PHILADELPHIA- The University of Pennsylvania men's and women's squash teams each picked up two victories to start the 2023-24 season. The number one ranked men's team picked up an 8-1 victory over Franklin & Marshall, then defeated Dickinson 9-0 at the Penn Squash Center. The eighth ranked women's team swept both of its opponents, picking up an 9-0 win over Chatham and a 9-0 victory over Haverford.

On the men's side, Nathan Kueh, Oliver Green and Jat Tse were the first three to compete for the Quakers, all three winning in three games. Kueh took control early and set the tone for Penn throughout his match. Green was able to take a 6-1 lead in his first game, only surrendering one point in the opening game.

Although Green battled in game two to earn the win, he was able to cruise through the next two games. Tse fought for his first win and carried his momentum into the next two games.

The second wave featured tighter battles between the Quakers and the Diplomats, as Kyle Penman and Varun Chitturi each swept in their respective matches while Nick Spizzirri dropped his match in five games.

Ben Mathias, Hao Cui and Rehan Luthra closed out the win for Penn with Mathias completing his win in 20 minutes.

In the later match of the day, the Quakers blew by the Devils for their first sweep of the season.

The first wave featured Kueh, Abdelrahman Dweek and Tse, who all picked up wins in three games and did so in an efficient manner. Kueh and Dweek were able to take down their opponent in 17 minutes, while Tse earned the win in 18.

Omar Hafez, Penman and Shaam Gambhir each dominated their wins, with Dana Santry, Diego Narvaez and Chitturi closing out the match in the win column.

As for the women, they picked up two sweeps to start out the season. Avni Anand, Sohaila Ismail and Ella Cohen were the first to see the court for the Quakers, with all three taking down their opponent in 20 minutes or less.

Jana Dweek, Malak Taha and Kelsey Abbrecht worked efficiently in their wave of matches, with none surrendering more than four points to their opponents.

Franka Vidovic and Abbie Rorke closed out the first match for the Quakers, doing so in a combined 37 minutes.

Against Haverford, head coach Jack Wyant explored lineup changes that proved to be impactful for Penn. Emma Carter, Emma Wolf and Cohen saw the floor first for the Quakers, taking down the Fords with ease.

Next up was Abbrecht, Penelope Oh and Natasha Pensler who between them only gave up a combined 17 points, each sweeping.

Ishani Wadhwa, Rorke and Grace Lavin kept pace for Penn as Wadhwa and Lavin took down their opponent in 10 minutes for the fastest victories of the day.

Men's Results
Vs Franklin & Marshall

1. Kyle Broadhurst (F &M) def. Nicholas Spizzirri 11-13, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11
2. Nathan Kueh def. Sharan Punjabi (F & M) 11-5, 11-6, 11-6
3. Rehan Luthra def. Marco DiFilippo (F & M) 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-1
4. Varun Chitturi def. Jordan Sprecher (F & M) 11-4, 11-3, 11-9
5. Oliver Green def. Noah Katzer (F & M) 11-1, 11-8, 11-2
6. Hao Cui def. Evann Tan (F & M) 14-12, 11-8, 11-9
7. Kyle Penman def. Samuel Freed (F & M) 11-6, 11-3, 11-4
8. Jat Tse def. Akshat Agarwal (F & M) 11-8, 11-7, 11-4
9. Ben Mathias def. Juanber Hinostroza (F & M) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5

Vs Dickinson

1. Omar Hafez def. Joe Smythe (D) 11-6, 11-2, 11-8
2. Nathan Kueh def. Omar Ali (D) 11-1, 11-2, 11-4
3. Varun Chitturi def. Mark Naguib (D) 11-3, 11-4, 11-7
4. Shaam Gambhir def. Kobe Fleming (D) 11-5, 11-7, 11-2
5. Abdelrahman Dweek def. Samuel Knipp (D) 11-4, 11-5, 11-0
6. Dana Santry def. Jack Corkum (D) 11-7, 11-1, 11-4
7. Kyle Penman def. James Kiracofe (D) 11-5, 11-1, 11-1
8. Jat Tse def. Cormac Sullivan (D) 11-1, 11-2, 11-0
9. Diego Narvaez def. Aidan Donnan 11-3, 11-4, 11-7

 
Women's Results
Vs Chatham

1. Malak Taha def. Sofia Ramos (C) 11-2, 11-2, 11-4
2. Sohaila Ismail def. Basmala Sayed Ahmed (C) 11-3, 11-9, 11-1
3. Franka Vidovic def. Valentina Della-Maddalena (C) 11-5, 11-5, 11-2
4. Jana Dweek def. Vasundhra Vasanthan (C) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
5. Avni Anand def. Clara Braga (C) 11-6, 11-6, 11-4
6. Abbie Rorke def. TaNiya Nored (C) 11-1, 11-1, 11-1
7. Kelsey Abbrecht def. Yukta Rana (C) 11-3, 11-1, 11-3
8. Ella Cohen def. Amari Spivey (C) 11-2, 11-2, 11-1

Vs Haverford

1. Natasha Pensler def. Emi Krishnamurthy (H) 11-2, 11-0, 11-3
2. Emma Wolf def. Amelia Stevens (H) 11-5, 11-5, 11-1
3. Grace Lavin def. Aman Hamdard (H) 11-1, 11-3, 11-0
4. Penelope Oh def. Zoe Liu (H) 11-3, 11-2, 11-2
5. Emma Carter def. Maya Johnson Fraidin (H) 11-1, 11-2, 11-2
6. Abbie Rorke def. Matilda Chartener (H) 11-5, 11-2, 11-1
7. Kelsey Abbrecht def. Amy Saxon (H) 11-2, 11-1, 11-1
8. Ella Cohen def. Lily Matthews def. (H) 11-1, 11-5, 11-1
9. Ishani Wadhwa def. Sarah Kotapka (H) 11-1, 11-0, 11-2

Quotables
 
Coach Gilly Lane: "Very happy to start the year with two wins. It was important for our younger players to gain experience in matches that count after the Ivy scrimmage and they performed very well. We are looking forward to our match tomorrow against our neighbor Drexel University."
 
Coach Jack Wyant: "Great start to the season by the women today. The freshmen did really well, very excited about tomorrow's encounter with Drexel, great opportunity."
 
Up Next
Both the men's and women's squads will be back in action tomorrow against Drexel at 1 p.m. at the Penn Squash Center to close out opening weekend.