Both the men's and women's squash teams began the season on high notes, taking home a combined three wins during their season opener at the Harvard Round Robin two weeks ago.
The No. 18 men's team bested two nationally-ranked opponents, Stanford and Tufts, in commanding back-to-back 7-2 victories. Captain Barrett Takesian '13, Andrew Hilboldt '13, Reid Wilson '14, and Andrew Ward '15 earned two wins each in the No. 2 through 5 slots, and Max Bearse '15 won both of his games in the No. 8 position.
The No. 20 women's match against Wesleyan was closer, but the Polar Bears managed to bring home the victory 5-4.
The top four slots on the Polar Bear roster were occupied by first years: Torey Lee lost at No. 1, but Rachel Barnes, Alden Drake, and Demi Angelakis earned wins for Bowdoin in the crucial two through four slots. Sophomores Christiana Whitcomb and Michaela Martin won the final two points in the nine and seven slots, respectively.
Martin's critical win dragged on into a fiercely contested fifth set, which she won 13-11 to clinch the match for Bowdoin.
"I think it's really cool that in squash the scoring is done out of nine points and that the outcome of my match at the No. 7 slot is just as important to the team winning overall as the match of the No. 1 girl," Martin said. "I was really excited to find out after I was done playing that I had secured the team's first win of the year."
The Polar Bears then returned home to the Lubin Squash Center that Sunday where both teams were unsurprisingly defeated by Trinity College in separate 9-0 decisions.
The victory by the Trinity men improved their winning streak—the longest in the history of intercollegiate varsity athletics—to 247 consecutive matches.
The opening weekend leaves the men's team with a season record of 2-1, while the women stand even at 1-1.
Neither squad was able to take a game off of Trinity, but the match was not a total loss.
"The Trinity match is my favorite one of the entire year," said Hilboldt.
"No one is really expected to win at all, but you get to play against these players who are the best in their respective countries, and its an absolutely incredible experience and I always come away from it a better player," he added.
Coach Tomas Fortson explained his strategy for this stage of the season.
"We do love to win matches, but this part of the season is more about getting better," he said. "Our focus is on working hard, improving our skills for the spring, and peaking at nationals."
Both teams will travel to Hartford this weekend to compete in the Trinity Round Robin Tournament, where they will face off against George Washington, Connecticut College, and Vassar.