The men's squash team split a pair of matches against Maine rivals Bates and Colby at home this past weekend. The Bowdoin men fell to the Bobcats 7-2 Friday night before defeating Colby 7-2 the next afternoon.
The weekend left the team's overall regular season record at 10-11 and their NESCAC record at 6-7.
Stephan Danyluk '14 and Barrett Takesian '13 both earned points with impressive wins at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively, against the Bobcats.
"We were definitely the underdog in our match against Bates and, although we didn't get the win, we saw that we can battle against stronger players," said Andy Bernard '11.
Against the Mules, Bowdoin dominated the middle of the ladder, collecting points at positions two through six to claim the victory.
Danyluk and Takesian both earned their second wins of the weekend while Will Fantini '13, Andrew Hilboldt '13, Rahul Madan Mohan '11, Reid Wilson '14 and Andrew Sprague '12 all took home wins for Bowdoin.
"We were the higher-ranked team and it was important that we came away with a win," Bernard said. "Nobody took the match for granted and everyone played hard...It was a good last match to the regular season, and set us up well going into Nationals."
The team will face Colby in the first round of Nationals.
"It seems like everyone on the team is starting to hit their rhythm, which is exactly what we want at this point in the season," said Bernard. "In the draw that we're in this year, we will be one of the stronger teams, which is different than usual."
"All the other teams will be looking to upset us, so we have to make sure that doesn't happen," he added. "I'm confident that we'll come through with some good wins."
The women's team will play Colby today at 4:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Women's College Squash Association National Championships at Princeton.
The men's team will return to the court at the College Squash Association Team Championship that begins on February 25 at Harvard.