This weekend, Cornell men’s and women’s squash teams are set to travel to Cambridge, Mass., where the two squads will look to bounce back from their heartbreaking losses to Princeton two weeks ago.

At Harvard, the Red men (2-1, 1-1 Ivy) will Smacking right back: The squash team heads to Cambridge to face Havard and Tufts this weekend in hopes to bounce back from a tough loss against Princeton. both the Crimson and Tufts on Saturday with matches starting at 12 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.

The Red women (1-2, 0-2 Ivy) are scheduled to face Harvard at 10 a.m., which will allow the players ample rest before taking on the Jumbos at 2:15 p.m. Cornell will aim to clinch its first conference win of the season against the host team.

“The focus of the weekend will be on Harvard,” said junior Will Hartigan. “Last year, it was close match. We beat them 6-3 in the regular season, but we ended up losing to them in nationals, which was the biggest disappointment of the year.”

This weekend marks the beginning of a lengthy series of away matches for the Red.

“This season we only had two home matches in all, which happens every other year due to scheduling,” Stokes said. “By traveling early on Friday, we will be fresh for Saturday’s morning and afternoon matches. We are used to being on the road, so the bus rides are never an issue when it comes to performing.”

Together, the Cornell men and women will tour New England over winter break hitting five different destinations: Trinity, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, and Williams. The Red will take on all five opponents from the Ivy League and NESCAC schools before classes reconvene for the spring semester. In addition, the women will compete against Mount Holyoke on their visit to New Haven, CT.

Many of the Cornell men and women will seize the opportunity to play competitively before commencing the second stanza of their seasons. From January 8 through January 10, the teams will participate in the William White Tournament in Haverford, PA. Five total players from the Cornell men’s and women’s teams hail from the Philadelphia area and look forward to playing close to home and family.

“The William White Tournament is an adult tournament sponsored by a club back home,” Stokes said. “Many college players compete in the under-23 division, so it is a very competitive draw and we are looking forward to getting some great match-play in.”

“The majority of the men’s team is going to the tournament in Pennsylvania, as well,” Hartigan said. “While it doesn’t count toward collegiate standings, the matches are a chance for everyone to get their legs back after break and they help to get the team ready for the second half of the season.”

The Red will head back to Ithaca on Monday, January 11 for the start of inter-session when they will practice twice a day. Double sessions may seem brutal, but the Red will likely find time to relax and recover from a long day at the courts.

“So far, we have pretty much accomplished our goals as a team,” Hartigan said. “We won all of the games we expected to win. We knew the match against Princeton would be a battle, so even though it was an upsetting loss, it wasn’t a huge surprise.”

“The only thing that we are kind of regretting at this point is our performance against Princeton because we had a shot at taking them,” said Hartigan, “We lost, 6-3, and of the individual matches that we dropped, three went to five games. We definitely had that one in our hands, but we let it slip away. If we can just capitalize on those 5-game matches, we should end up on top in the Ivy League.”

“We have five incredible freshmen this year,” adds Hartigan, “They make up arguably one of the best recruiting classes in the Ivy League. Because we have a young team, the most beneficial thing we can do at the moment is to make sure that these players are getting good experience at the college level. Junior squash is very different from Division I squash. There is a four-year gap between our seniors and the incoming freshmen and it can be a hard adjustment. Nevertheless, our underclassmen are already proving themselves on the court and they have a ton of potential. I am really confident in this season’s team. The program is certainly heading in the right direction.”