Women’s squash routs opponents at the Smith | The Triangle

Women’s squash routs opponents at the Smith

After a rough fall portion of the season for the Drexel men’s and women’s squash teams, the second half of the season has seen them rebound from that dip in form with some impressive performances. Such continued Jan. 25-27 as the men’s team won three out of its four matches in upstate New York (including two 9-0 wins) while the women’s team won the Smith Round Robin tournament in Northampton, Mass., Jan. 26-27. These results saw the men’s team (6-9 overall) and the women’s team (5-8 overall) move to No. 21 in their respective College Squash Association rankings.

The men’s showing in New York was an impressive one, beating Hobart College (7-2), Siena College (9-0) and Northeastern University (9-0) by a combined score of 23-2. Their only blemish on the trip was a tough 5-4 loss at the hands of Hamilton College. As has often been the case in the second half, the top players for the men’s side showed why they are in those positions, as Drexel’s top four players went a staggering 15-1 in those four matches, with three of them — sophomore Ibrahim Bakir, junior Justin Singh and freshman Binura Jayasuriya — going unbeaten for the entire weekend. Nevertheless, it was the fully collective nature of Drexel’s wins that were most noteworthy. Against Northeastern, sophomore (and last week’s CSA Player of the Week) Harshil Dokania, junior Paul Jamrogowicz and lone seniors Will Heyman and Kevin Sacherman all won their bottom-ladder matches in straight sets.

Not to be outdone, the women’s team also played well at the Smith Round Robin tournament, winning all three of their matches against Smith College (9-0), Connecticut College (7-2) and William Smith College (9-0). Just like the men, the women’s victories were also of a dominating fashion, with the Dragons dropping a grand total of one set in their nine individual matches against Smith; seven of those wins came in straight sets. They were also dominant against William Smith, with eight out of their nine wins coming in straight sets.

The star of the Smith Round Robin for Drexel was freshman Disha Thahryamal. Recently named one of Drexel Athletics’ co-Athletes of the Week (the other was freshman men’s tennis player Xavier Saavedra), Thahryamal went undefeated at the Smith Round Robin, winning all three of her matches in straight sets.

Both the men’s and women’s teams continue their road trip this weekend with a dual match against George Washington University in the nation’s capital.