Both the Harvard’s men’s and women’s Harvard squash teams returned to prominence last year, and they began the 2001-2002 season right where they left off. Last year, the women’s team won both the Ivy League Championship and the national championship. The men were only slightly less successful, winning the Ivy League title and finishing with the No. 2 ranking in the country. This year, however, both teams have their sights set on nothing less than a national championship.

Women

The women’s team has the two best players in the nation on its team, as sophomore Louisa Hall and captain Margaret Elias finished first and second, respectively, in the individual tournament at the Ivy League scrimmages.

Harvard also won the Ivy League scrimmages, besting Yale 8-1 and Princeton 9-0. The scrimmages are often good indicators of a team’s talent. The Crimson entered the field seeded first and didn’t disappoint after its two straight victories.

The Harvard women have a strong squad set to defend its national championship. With Louisa Hall and Margaret Elias operating one-two, the Crimson seems sure to dominate the opponent’s best players. Rounding out Harvard’s starting nine are Lindsey Wilkins, Carlin Wing, Ella Witcher, captain Colby Hall, Hilary Thorndike, Kristin Wadhwa and Stephanie Hendricks.

The Crimson began its regular season action Friday night in Providence against Brown. The women dominated the Brown Bears and won the match, 9-0. Each individual player won her match by the score of 3-0, including wins by six freshmen playing in their first college matches.

“The freshmen were all great competitors,” Hall said. “This was a great way to start the season.”

After the win over Brown, the women will have to stay focused on their goals if they want to duplicate last year’s success.

“We need to maintain our strength and set our standards as high as ever,” Elias said.

Men

On the men’s side, the team is looking to continue last year’s success and even build upon it, despite having lost four of its top seven starters to graduation. For the Crimson, captain Peter Karlen plays the first slot, with sophomore James Bullock occupying the second, and junior Dylan Patterson the third. Rounding out the Crimon’s starting nine are sophomore Isaac Whitman, freshman Asher Hochberg and Mike Blumberg, junior Thomas Storch, captain David Barry and senior Tomo Hamakawa.

Even after losing its best players from last year, Karlen thinks that the Crimson has “exceptional depth.”

“We have the talent [to win] and we have been working very hard,” Karlen said.

The men won the Ivy League scrimmages, beating Columbia 9-0, Dartmouth 8-1 and Princeton 6-3. The match against Princeton was a surprise to some, who expected the team to fall to a Tiger team that was similar to the squad that Harvard narrowly defeated twice last year.

“It was close [against Princeton], but we clearly were the better team,” Barry said.

The men, like their female counterparts, also dominated the individual portion of the Ivy League scrimmages, placing seven Harvard players among the top 19.

“We were undoubtedly the most prepared and fit team there,” Karlen said.

Just as the women had done, the men dominated Brown 9-0, and every player won his individual match by the score of 3-0.

“We have a very committed group of individuals,” Karlen said. “We played well, and did what we had to do.”

“This win is an excellent way to start the season.

Both the Harvard squash teams have their eyes set on the dual prize of an Ivy League and a National Championship, and both teams started the season off on the right foot in pursuit of that goal.

“We were national champions last year, and we have no reason not to hope for the same result this year,” Colby Hall said.