Penn men's squash narrowly defeats Princeton, while the women fall to the No. 1 Tigers

Against Ivy League opponents, Penn men’s squash can’t be stopped.

Coming off a tough weekend against Trinity and Colby, Penn men's and women’s squash braved the arctic blast to head to Princeton and take on the Tigers. The men took down Princeton in a tight 5-4 match while the women lost, 8-1. 

The Princeton women (10-0, 3-0 Ivy) were coming off a nine-game winning streak going into Wednesday's contest. The Tigers are historically a women’s squash powerhouse and are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. Senior Reeham Sedky provided the only win of the night for the Quakers (7-3, 1-2), building off a strong weekend when she earned the lone win for Penn against Trinity. She also only lost a single point in a dominating match against Colby that weekend.

“On [Princeton’s] home court I knew it was going to be different, I had to adapt that," Sedky said. "The main thing I knew I had to do was stick to my own game plan and not get rattled by a few points here and there."

In her final season with Penn, Sedky is the only woman on the team who remains undefeated after 10 matches. On the men’s side, freshman Aly Abou Eleinen also continued his winning streak. 

Although the win was less decisive than the Red and Blue (10-1, 3-0) have been accustomed to, key matches helped clinch the victory. Eleinen secured a tough win on Court 1, taking down senior Clark Doyle of Princeton (4-5, 1-2) in a tight 3-2 match to continue his undefeated streak. 

Eleinen, fresh from winning the US Junior Squash Open over winter break, credits his early college success to the support of his teammates.  

“As a freshman, each part of [my] success is due to the team being close," Eleinen said. "When we all came in, the seniors helped us pave the way. All we had to worry about was working hard and producing results.” 

The Quakers are in the middle of a historically strong season, as they started the season with a nine-game winning streak. With freshman powerhouses like Eleinen and consistent performances from the middle of the ladder, the men’s team might be shaping up for an impressive finish to its season. The women’s team will look to end the season with a return to a dominant position in the Ivy League after a disappointing sixth place finish last year. 

The Red and Blue is back in action this weekend as Ivy play takes off. Both teams will face off this weekend against Dartmouth on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday.