M. Squash pounds F&M; and Penn State

After shutout losses against No. 1 Trinity and No. 2 Princeton, the No. 8 Penn men's squash team found a welcome respite on Sunday. The Quakers traveled to Lancaster, Pa., and posted two shutouts of their own, defeating No. 32 Penn State and host No. 16 Franklin and Marshall, both by 9-0 scores. "We played well, and you can't ask for better results," Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clarke said. The Quakers started their day against Penn State, and later posted their first sweep of Franklin and Marshall in Thorpe-Clarke's tenure at Penn. "Four years ago, losing to them, and now beating them 9-0, is a testament to how much we've improved," Thorpe-Clarke said. "We treat them with respect, they're good opponents, they have a long history of producing good teams." "This is really the first year where we've separated ourselves from them," senior co-captain Elan Levy said. "It's nice to go out against a team with some pretty decent players and dominate." Levy did not play yesterday, resting an injured quadriceps muscle. "[I'm] getting ready for Harvard and Dartmouth" next weekend, he said. The Penn State match had a markedly different atmosphere to it, as the Nittany Lions' team does not have full varsity status. "They are a club team, so they don't have the funding like the varsity teams we play," Penn senior co-captain Sam Miller said. "So we go in there and we have a lot of respect for them because they are putting up their own money." Thorpe-Clarke, who sits on the Executive Committee of the Collegiate Squash Association, also understood the significance of the match. "Part of the mission statement of the CSA is to encourage emerging and developing teams," he said. "It's important that we play teams that need some bigger games and need some experience." The Penn State club is "a nice group of guys, they try hard, even this week they recruited two players," Thorpe-Clarke added. "Squash will grow in popularity when you have guys like the ones at Penn State who like the game enough to put in their own time and money to the program," Miller said. After enjoying a day off from practice today, the team will spend this week preparing for its last two home matches of the season, against No. 3 Harvard and No. 7 Dartmouth this weekend at the Ringe Squash Courts. "We've got a couple of goals to work on," Thorpe-Clarke said. "Harvard's going to be a tough one, and Dartmouth's going to be a barnburner." Levy is taking his final two home matches in Quakers' colors very seriously. "We're gonna train our butts off. It's no joke for us," he said. "Sunday will probably be the most intense match I've ever played here at Penn."

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