PHILADELPHIA- After going a perfect 3-0 and securing its sixth straight Pennsylvania State Championship to start the season, the University of Pennsylvania men's squash team is back at home this weekend.

Matches begin Friday against 13th-ranked Western University at 4:30 p.m., with play continuing Saturday when the Quakers welcome seventh-ranked Virginia and Navy at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively at the Penn Squash Center.

How to Watch
Streams for this weekend can be found here:

Western
Virginia
Navy

Previewing Penn
Head coach Gilly Lane is in his eighth year at the helm of the Red and Blue; he has led the Quakers to a 34-1 regular season record over the last two plus years, and Penn won the outright Ivy League championship for just the second time in program history in 2021-22.

Penn completed the 2022-23 regular season with a 15-1 record, going 5-1 in the Ivy League with the only loss coming 5-4 at eventual champion Harvard. The Red and Blue remained pure at home with a 9-0 record at the Penn Squash Center.

Match History
Friday's meeting will be the 11th between the Quakers and the Mustangs, as Western holds an 8-2 advantage in the series. Recently, Penn has gotten the better of Western as last year the Red and Blue picked up a 9-0 victory at the Penn Squash Center. Until 2022, Penn had not beaten Western since 2008.

Saturday's meeting will be the sixth between the Quakers and the Cavaliers, as Penn holds a 5-0 record in the series. Penn has dominated the matchup against Virginia with three out of five victories resulting in a 9-0 sweep, while the Quakers are also 3-0 at the Penn Squash Center. Last season Penn picked up an 8-1 win at a neutral site in Baltimore.

Saturday's meeting will be the 22nd between Quakers and the Midshipmen since the 2001 season. Penn holds a 20-1 record in the series, with The only loss coming on January 17, 2001. The Quakers have not seen the Midshipmen since 2021, when Penn picked up a 9-0 win at the Penn Squash Center. The Quakers have swept their last two matches and are 9-1 at home against Navy.

The Returners
Seniors Nick Spizzirri and Dana Santry, and junior Roger Baddour are this year's captains. Spizzirri finished team competition 15-0 and added a victory during CSA individuals last season, earning first-team CSA All-America and first-team All-Ivy honors. Santry went 12-3 during team competition and 5-1 in Ivy play last season. Baddour finished 7-3 and 4-1 in conference play last year, earning second-team CSA All-America and first-team All-Ivy honors.

Other notable returners include junior Nathan Kueh who finished team competition 14-5 including a 5-1 mark in Ivy play, went 3-1 at CSA Individuals, and earned first-team CSA All-America and first-team All-Ivy honors. Sophomore Omar Hafez garnered Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season and will look to continue making an impact in the lineup, as he went 16-2 during the year and 5-1 in Ivy League play. Junior Abdelrahman Dweek played in three different spots in the lineup last season and will be a key member of the rotation after finishing the 2022-23 season 12-2 with a perfect 6-0 mark in Ivy play. Sophomore Rehan Luthra will look to build off of his 8-1 season last year, as will junior Shaam Gambhir who went 7-1 in eight matches last season.

The Newcomers
The Quakers welcome five freshmen: Varun Chitturi, Salman Khalil, Ben Mathias, Kyle Penman, and Jat Tse. The group hails from four different countries and three different continents. They will compete with the returners for places in the starting IX.

Last Time Out
Penn had a dominating start to the 2022-23 campaign, taking down Franklin & Marshall (8-1), and Dickinson (9-0) last Saturday. On Sunday, the Quakers beat Drexel 7-2, to win the Pennsylvania State Championships. Throughout the weekend Kueh and Chitturi each picked up three wins.