The No. 1-ranked men’s squash team and the No. 8-ranked women’s squash team competed in the Pennsylvania State Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the Penn Squash Center and both squads came away victorious.
On Saturday, the men’s squash team defeated 19th-ranked Franklin & Marshall 8-1 and 27th-ranked Dickinson 9-0. Playing in the No. 2 spot, third-year Nathan Kueh defeated F&M’s Sharan Punjabi 11-5, 11-6, 11-6. Second-year Rehan Luthra, playing in the No. 3 spot, downed F&M’s Marco DiFilippo 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 11-1. Fourth-year Nicholas Spizzirri, playing in the No. 1 spot, fell to F&M’s Kyle Broadhurst 11-13, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, the Red & Blue’s only loss.
Versus Dickinson, second-year Omar Hafez, playing in the No. 1 spot, jolted Joe Smythe 11-6, 11-2, 11-8. Kueh, in the No. 2 spot, outshined Omar Ali 11-1, 11-2, 11-4.
The women’s squash team swept both of their opponents, crushing 20th-ranked Chatham 8-0 and 29th-ranked Haverford 9-0. Second-year Malak Taha played in the No. 1 spot against Chatham and vanquished Sofia Ramos 11-2, 11-2, 11-4. First-year Sohaila Ismail, playing in the No. 2 spot, beat Basmala Sayed Ahmed 11-3, 11-9, 11-1.
Second-year Natasha Pensler, playing in the No. 1 spot against Haverford, routed Emi Krishnamurthy 11-2, 11-0, 11-3. Playing in the No. 2 spot, third-year Emma Wolf baffled Amelia Stevens 11-5, 11-5, 11-1.
Both Penn teams battled 33rd Street rival Drexel on Sunday. The men defeated the sixth-ranked Dragons 7-2 and the women triumphed over the fifth-ranked Dragons 6-3.
Hafez of the men’s team, playing in the No. 1 spot, overcame Nicolas Serna 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6. Spizzirri, in the No. 2 spot, hammered Harus Qasim 11-4, 11-5, 11-5.
Taha played in the No. 1 spot for the women’s team. She prevailed over Margot Prow 11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 5-11, 11-4. Ismail, in the No. 2 spot, took care of Karina Tyma 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4.
The women’s and men’s teams are 3-0 to start the season.
