Virginia Cavaliers break into the college squash elite by David Keating photos courtesy Mark Allen
February 19, 2016
- There’s a new force to be reckoned with in college squash -- the
University of Virginia. Nearly ignored a few years ago, this week
the school’s two club teams outclassed all other clubs, and many
varsity programs, in the first rankings that included club teams. These
final season rankings are used for seeding purposes for the college
national championships set for this weekend and next.
Both
teams are clearly the cream of the club team crop. No other club
teams earned “B” or “C” division berths at the College Squash
Association nationals that start today. The women’s team snagged a #16
ranking, good enough for the elite “B” group, the second best group of
eight teams. The men are seeded in the top half of the “C” division
with a realistic shot at finishing among the top three.
The
teams have stealthily moved up the rankings and in the championships
this weekend and next, the secret will likely finally be out that the
Cavaliers can’t be taken lightly. Franklin and Marshall, ranked #9 in
the season-opening rankings, nearly made that mistake in an early
season match. The Diplomats escaped with a 5-4 victory after their #1
sealed the win. However, UVa would have triumphed if either five game
match at #2 or #7 had gone their way.
The formula for
success? Take a new world-class facility, the McArthur Squash Center,
add Mark Allen, one of the world’s top coaches, then attract two stand
out juniors at a great and unique university and some great squash
players will beat a path to your door.
I interviewed Allen
via email and he wrote that “though the biggest jump has undoubtedly
been this year,” the men’s team has been “getting stronger each season
since we moved to McArthur Squash Center. The men have gone from a 36
[ranking before the facility opened to about 30 had the team earned a
ranking], to 29 and now to 20” for seeding at the nationals.
He
says that the improvement is due to the fact that “each year we are
attracting stronger squash players into our squad, and each year the
training and practice commitment from these players goes up -- hence
the improvement. Though officially we are still labeled as a club team,
we now have a squad of players that commit to the sport fully -- as
fully as any squash player on any other college squash team.”
One
catalyst to both the men’s and women’s teams was the arrival of Mason
Blake and Carey Danforth last season. In the US Squash junior
rankings Blake ranked as high as #19 in BU19. Danforth was also a
highly regarded player on the junior circuit and peaked at #8 in GU17
and finished in the top 16 at the GU19 junior national championships in
2014.
Allen says that “it was to some degree a leap of
faith from these two - coming to a new club program when they had
options from several other more traditional squash schools. But they
came, had very positive experiences in their first year at UVa, and as
a result I think put UVa into the thought process of many high school
seniors graduating in the class behind them. It is not an exaggeration
to say that the number of calls and emails from prospective students
went up by a multiple of ten from January 2014 to January 2015. And the
interest this year is already double what it was last.”
Understandably,
Allen says he is “obviously biased, but I do think UVa offers something
relatively unique right now in College squash (though hopefully not for
that much longer) -- a big Atlantic Coast Conference state school [with
nearly 22,000 students] in the south. I think this is attractive to a
lot of high school squash players.”
Since at least 2010, no
men’s club team has finished the season ranked better than #22, a mark
that UVa is virtually certain to surpass this weekend. Among women, the
Cavaliers women are likely the first club team to earn a sweet 16 berth
at the national championships in at least ten years.
The
Cavalier men will open their national championship tournament this
afternoon against Colby, a team they lost by a 5-4 margin, including
two losses in five games, as visitors earlier in the season. Now
that the team is healthier and playing on neutral ground at Yale today,
coach Allen is optimistic but predicts “another very close encounter.”
The
women’s rise to a top 16 spot, Allen says, “was huge for them,” and any
victories the following weekend, when the top 16 teams compete, “will
be the icing on the cake.” He says he is “very proud of them for
what they have achieved.”
My prediction? The women are a
good bet to surprise at least one of the teams in their division.
Their final match of their weekend could be one of the most exciting in
that draw.
Juniors still in high school, here’s some
advice. Take a look at the rising stars at UVa and add the school to
your list. There’s no other school like it with an elite team at a
marvelous facility.
