Squash Teams Both Sweep Brown, 9-0

The men's and women's squash teams kicked-off their seasons in stunning fashion by both defeating Brown, 9-0.

Of the 55 games played, the Crimson won all but three.

The Crimson men (1-0) handily beat Brown (0-1), winning all but two games.

"Going in, we knew that we were going to win, but we played hard and worked to improve our squash," said freshman No. 5 Dylan Patterson.

The Crimson was led by captain and No. 1 player Tim Wyant. Wyant has been an All-American and All-Ivy honoree the past three years and enters the season ranked No. 4 in the nation. He is the Crimson's best hope for an individual national champion.

The Harvard women (1-0) also impressed, blanking the Bears (0-1) 9-0. Like the men, they dropped only a single game.

"We were really pumped to play our best game. We wanted to work on trying new things ," sophomore No. 1 Margaret Elias said.

The women's depth showed against the over-matched Brown team. The Bears were clobbered at each step of the ladder. The women's depth will prove crucial later on in the season when the Crimson faces tougher opponents.

"We won a lot of our matches last year in the bottom five of the ladder," Elias said.

Although it is still early in the season, both teams are preparing for winter play, when they will meet their fiercest competition. The men will play their toughest opponents in February; the women will take on Williams and Princeton in January.

"Right now, we are trying to gain experience and to experiment with our games. Our goal is to improve our squash for Trinity, Yale, and Princeton [in February]," Patterson said.

This weekend also served as the official debut for both men's and women's new head-coach Satinder Bajwa. Bajwa replaces William Doyle , who amassed a 179-7 combined record in his seven years at Harvard.

The team's strong showings may be evidence of Bajwa's effective coaching and his ability to inspire his teams.

"He is a great motivator and he focuses us well," Elias said.

"Coach Bajwa challenges us to look deep into our game and how we play. He's really helping us to improve our swings and to play better squash," Patterson said.

The women's team enters the season No. 3 in the nation, trailing last year's champion, Princeton, and No. 1 Penn.

In the pre-season Ivy scrimmages, Harvard beat Princeton but lost to Penn, 5-4.

The men's team starts the season also near the top of the national rankings. They currently stand No. 2, behind last year's champion, Trinity.

Trinity clobbered the Crimson 8-1 in the national championship last year, but Harvard's strong freshman class and retention of all but one starter from last year could get the Crimson over the Trinity hump.

Heading into the millennium, both squads are hoping to return to their former national glory.

"We are gunning for the national championship, but right now we are focusing on gaining experience," Elias said.

Perennial powerhouses, both Crimson teams have been dominating in the 1990s. The women captured the national championship each year from 1993 to 1997; the men have followed suit, taking home the honors from 1994 to 1998.

The men and women next take the court on Dec. 4 in a triple-header against Cornell, Colby and Bates.