Penn squash player and Wharton senior Penelope Oh competes against Yale on Jan. 28, 2023.
Credit: Abhiram JuvvadiSome things just run in the family, whether it be height, extroversion, sense of humor, or having bad eyesight. For the Ohs, that family defining trait is playing squash at Penn.
Current women’s squash senior Penelope Oh knew very early on that she would end up at Penn. Growing up, she would spend a lot of time at Penn, largely driven by the fact that her dad, Sam Oh, attended Penn as an undergraduate. Sam graduated from the Wharton School in 1992. While Sam never ended up playing for the varsity team, several of his fraternity brothers did. As a result, he became a really big proponent of the sport with his own family.
Sam currently holds a seat on the Penn Athletics Board of Advisors that serves as a bridge between the Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics and the general community off campus. His continued involvement with Penn Athletics meant that he had a pretty close relationship with both of the varsity squash program’s head coaches Jack Wyant and Gilly Lane. As such, Penelope became a regular at Penn’s summer squash programs starting in the eighth grade.
When she started recruiting, it seemed like a no-brainer that Penn would be her top choice. In early March of her junior year of high school, she was offered a spot on the team. The fact that she was also given the opportunity to follow in her father’s footsteps by studying in Wharton accelerated her decision-making process.
Penelope missed out on her freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has found plenty of success since then. In her debut season as a sophomore, she would win all eight matches that she competed in 3-0, dropping just a handful of points each time. After a junior season that saw her tied for second on the team in wins, Penelope was named one of the team captains heading into her senior season.
With that role has come a lot more responsibilities, but the team is currently in a good spot. Despite the Kurtz Cup win last year, the team is hungry for much more. And this year, the team seems poised to take on the challenge to be the best in the nation.
“We've improved our ranking from being preseason number eight to now being number four, which has been a really impressive improvement for us,” Penelope said. “Just seeing how much effort my team has put in and how our results are really reflecting that has been super rewarding, especially knowing that I played more of a leadership position on the team this year.”
An added bonus for Penelope this year is that a familiar face has joined the team. Namely, her younger sister, Madeline Oh.
“For me, it's just the little moments we get to spend together,” Penelope said. “Obviously, in college, you have a lot more downtime than you do in high school. So, [it's just] the little moments of grabbing coffee after practice [or] grabbing lunch. She'll come over to my house sometimes because her dorm room is so small. So I think just little moments are the best part for me and getting to spend that time with her.”
Unlike her older sister, Madeline’s path to playing at Penn wasn’t nearly as straightforward. While she also grew up playing squash her whole life, she wasn’t as set on playing in college until much later in her high school career. For her, playing for and eventually captaining the Greenwich Academy team was the tipping point that gave her the push she needed to continue playing squash in college.
After being accepted to Penn, Madeline ended up joining the team as a walk-on. Shortly after joining the team, a MRI scan revealed that she had a stress fracture that prevented her from playing right away. Overall, the transition from high school to collegiate squash was tough for Madeline.
“That was definitely really hard for me,” Madeline reflected. “Because I felt like, ‘What am I even here for?’ First of all, I’m a walk-on. Second of all, I'm injured so I can't even prove that I'm worthy of being here and that was definitely really difficult.”
In this case, it really helped to have an older sister already on the team who could help her with the transition. This isn’t the first time that the two sisters have gone to the same school. When Madeline was a freshman in high school, Penelope was a senior in high school. However, going to the same high school was a much different experience than going to the same college. As a high schooler, she was afraid of always being considered “Penny’s younger sister.” Since coming to Penn, Madeline has appreciated having her older sister around.
“Freshman year in college is so different from freshman year in high school,” Madeline said. “Now I just see it as such a bonus and even though I am sort of known as Penny’s sister, I'm known by that in the best way possible, which I think is really helpful and I'm just glad that I'm here with her.”
However, this does mark the first time that the two sisters have played on the same team. The sibling dynamic has definitely brought a lot of energy and excitement to the team, especially during practices. Whenever the two face off against each other, there’s always an added level of excitement. The coaches will even do their best to raise the stakes by adding in more sprints for the loser. The two do a good job of toeing the line between competitive and hostile, but that doesn’t meant that they each won’t be giving it their all to secure bragging rights over the other.
“I never felt hostile which I think is just so great that we have that relationship... I definitely know there are siblings out there that that can't play against each other or it gets too crazy,” Madeline said. “But we both want the best for each other and want each other to play our best and just be the best version of ourselves, so I think that's really good … it doesn't even matter about whatever other people say and if they put pressure on it, we're still sisters.”
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