Tufts looks to makes strides in national rankings as winter season begins

After strong preseason practice and training, the members of the men’s squash team feel that it is ready to once again take to the courts for a successful season. Tufts finished 6-18 last year, and is looking to begin with a bang in their season opener at Wesleyan on Saturday.

Two veteran players that are eager to commence the season are co-captains senior Zach Schweitzer and junior Aditya Advani. Though the team as a whole has been without many victories, both Schweitzer and Advani have led the team in individual wins the last two years. While both players hope that their individual success continues, they anticipate that the team victories will begin to follow suit.

Ranging from speed to strength, the team has used a wide variety of training methods for preseason practice.

“The team has done a herculean amount of offseason training including daily weight sessions, temperature acclimation training, wind resistance training, altitude training -- in Colorado over the summer -- and some more adventurous members of the team even took up kickboxing classes during the offseason to work on their explosive speed and reflexes,” Schweitzer said.

Most of the training for the squash team happens at Belmont Hill courts because Tufts does not own squash courts that fit the current court requirements. The team will have to play its home games elsewhere, but Tufts hopes for a strong showing regardless.

In regard to new talent, Advani feels confident that this year’s rookies are as talented and competitive as ever, and the chances of increasing the team’s ranking are fairly high.

“We have a real good group of freshman who joined the team this year, and we are looking better than ever," Advani said. "There is a great energy on the team as well as a lot more depth. Everyone is competing fiercely to hold on to their spots. We have a very good chance at jumping in the rankings this year and I am sure that we are going to get some big W's against teams that [we] lost to last year.”

Schweitzer, who had one of the best records in all of the NESCAC last season, hopes to repeat his stellar results.

“On a personal level, this is my last season, so I'm trying to go out with a bang," Schweitzer said. "Last year I went 17-1 during the regular season, and I feel that I have nowhere to go but up from there."

According to Advani, the team will seek to improve upon its 33rd place in the national rankings. 

“The whole team is looking to get some wins in the NESCAC, and I think we have a great shot against some of them, since a lot of games were very close last season," Advani said. "With the strong freshman class, I think we can beat teams like Northeastern and MIT that we had some unfortunate losses against last year. Overall I think the team is hoping to jump to the top 25 in the country.”

Schweitzer pinpoints the opening match against Wesleyan as one of the most important matches of the season.

“As a team, the most exciting matches will be this weekend against Wesleyan, [at] Nationals and [at] the NESCAC tournament," Schweitzer said. "In previous years we have performed poorly in the NESCAC tournament, but the youth that we have on the team this year has instilled the 'old-guard,' as we call ourselves, with a vigor and burning desire to win that cannot be squelched.”

After the fall semester ends, the team will travel to Florida in order to further train and prepare for the end of the season.

“I'm most excited for our winter training trip to Florida this year," Schweitzer  said. "Two years ago we went and ... there was a lot of intense fitness."