Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last week, the men’s (6–9; 4–6 NESCAC) and women’s (8–7; 5–5 NESCAC) squash teams concluded their regular season ranking 20th and 17th in the nation, respectively. To make the weekend even more significant, the teams jointly celebrated Senior Day on Sunday by honoring its six graduating seniors.

On the men’s side, the Polar Bears closed conference play with a win against Bates College (4–9; 2–6 NESCAC) Friday night and a tight loss to Colby College (7–6; 4–3 NESCAC) on Sunday, splitting the weekend and showing resilience against local rivals as they head into the postseason.

Head Coach Brendan McClintick highlighted the energy the Polar Bears took into Friday’s match against Bates.

“We had a lot of confidence coming from a win against St. Lawrence [University] match, so all it took was reminding ourselves we’re playing really good squash right now; we should have good confidence,” McClintick said. “We’re fit, but most importantly we have to go in there and stay levelheaded, cool, collected and execute good game plans.”

With wins from Aryan Singh ’26, Luc Agudelo ’26, Ben Korengold ’27, Will Maschler ’28, Ronak Nagar ’28, Oliver Pride ’29 and Liam Waldron ’29, the Polar Bears dominated the Bobcats, securing a 7–2 victory. Singh, a captain for the men’s team this season who won his match 3–1, commented on the team’s victory over Bates.

“Bates, in the past, has been a very competitive school, and going into this match I knew that it would be a very heated match and that both teams would push super hard,” Singh said. “Overall, I’m very proud of the team, and I think everyone stepped up and put their foot down and stopped Bates from creating any sort of upset.”

During Sunday’s match against the Mules, the Polar Bears narrowly lost 4–5. While the team suffered a setback, it gained valuable insights heading into postseason play. Singh emphasized finding a new gear as the postseason approaches.

“After posting positive results against Bates and getting more confidence with Colby, we’re going to have a lot more confidence going into the postseason,” Singh said. “The team is doing super well, and we’re going to bring the energy on court come Saturday.”

The women’s side cruised to two strong wins over both the Bobcats (4–7; 1–7 NESCAC) and the Mules (5–7; 3–4 NESCAC).

While the Polar Bears commanded the match against Bates with wins from Mira Karande ’26, Eshika Tangri ’27, Clare Collins ’27, Linley Grosman ’28, Amelie Matuch ’28, Ellie Kennedy ’28 and Cory Spiegel ’29, a season highlight came from Tangri’s gritty 3–2 win. Collins noted Tangri’s performance as an all-time high, specifically sharing how proud she was of her fellow teammate.

“Seeing [Tangri] win 19–17 in the fifth match was a huge moment for her and all of us. At that point, all the other matches were done, and we just went crazy for her,” Collins said. “She was amazing and showed everyone what Bowdoin squash is made of.” ​

On Sunday, the women’s squash team defended the Lubin Family Squash Center against Colby, defeating the Mules 7–2. Collins shared that the Polar Bears’ win against the Mules reminded the team why they strive to be the best.

“We’re a team that gives our all, and it’s been a long season, and we’re excited for these two tournaments,” Collins said. “We play for each other, and that’s what we love to do…, just leaving it all on court.”

McClintick stressed that a final push for the women’s side will depend on the team’s mental edge and ability to embrace a more aggressive style of play.

“We’ve been moving really well on court, and the energy seems really high, so to take us to the next level, it’s going to take the women a lot of self-belief,” McClintick said. “We need to … be able to go out and handle high pace and inject that high pace too.”

Tomorrow, both teams will travel to Hamilton College in hopes of bringing home a NESCAC title. The seventh-seeded men will play second-ranked Tufts University (10–5; 7–1 NESCAC), and the sixth-seeded women will also play third-ranked Tufts (9–5; 7–2 NESCAC).

Linley Grosman ’28 is a member of The Bowdoin Orient.