"Coming into the season, no one would have thought we had a chance," Karlen said. "But we knocked down some of their perennial power guys and edged closer to beating them."

Although Karlen is just beginning his ascent to the top of the individual collegiate rankings, success on the squash court is nothing new for the former prep school star. Karlen grew up with several different racquets in his hands, playing tennis and squash at Rye's Apawamis Club.

Karlen benefited from this early exposure to racquet sports, often finding himself on the same court as Rye native and current Harvard teammate David Barry. As a youth player at Apawamis, Karlen also found himself under the tutelage of a coach that knew a thing or two about winning in squash and succeeding in the classroom--Coach Pete Briggs was a former individual national champion while playing for the Crimson.

Karlen and his family moved to Connecticut when he was 11, but his squash career continued to move forward and he was eventually named captain of his prep school team at Andover. After garnering second team All-American honors and a No. 19 ranking last season in his sophomore season in Cambridge, Karlen spent this past summer in England training with several of the world's top players under the guidance of Coach John Milton.

After shoulder ailments sidelined Karlen early this season, he has found his stride and is currently at the pinnacle of his game. With nowhere to look but forward, Karlen is on pace to at least crack the top 10, possibly top-five, in this season's individual rankings.

Having already played the role of giant killer during the past few weeks, Karlen will begin to focus on the National Single's Championships at Barnaby Courts, which will be played from March 2-4.

But now Karlen is the target of all those other aspiring giant killers.

Now, he is the giant on the court--in both senses of the word.