PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania men's squash team gets their season under way this Saturday as they travel to New Haven, Connecticut to take on the Ivy Scrimmages. For the first time, the Quakers will be leaving the Ringe Squash Courts and go up against players that aren't their own, something head coach, Gilly Lane, is excited for. 

Last season the Red and Blue finished seventh as a team, but capped off the year with a win over the Yale Bulldogs for the first time since 2006-07. Their 37 wins over between 2013-2016 are the 2nd most in a four year span in the program's history and for a team that works to get better every day, that is just the beginning. 

The Fab Five

The Quakers will be captained this season by seniors Hayes Murphy, James Watson, and Anders Larson. However, seniors Marwan Mahmoud and Derek Hsue will also be returning to the team. The five seniors have started every match the previous three years helping the Quakers to a fifth place ranking in the country as sophomores, the team's best finish since 2006-07. 

Said head coach Gilly Lane, "Those five seniors have started every match they've played in three years. Their class, you can kind of call them the five whatever, they're the ones that we brought in. They revamped the program. We've counted on them."

The five seniors bring a lot of experience over the last three years. Along with the incredible team accomplishments, both Murphy and Watson competed and made the quarterfinals at the CSA Individuals last season while Mahmoud earned First-team All-Ivy honors for the third straight year recording a 10-6 record at Penn's number one slot. He also earned Academic All-Ivy recognition. 

The Future

While the Quakers have their 'fab five' of seniors, they will also have high expectations for their younger players to take that next step. Sophomore David Yacobucci, who played seven last year, will be playing higher in the line-up after a good summer. The sophomore achieved a birth into the CSA Individuals last season where he made the quarterfinals. 

Also joining Penn will be freshman Andrew Douglas. Douglas competed at the Squash US Open Championships earlier in October and finished sixth at the World Juniors. His sixth place finish is the highest ever finish for an American male. Freshmen Yash Bhargava and Ryan Murray will also contribute. 

The Quakers have some good, young pieces which is where the experience and leadership of the core seniors will help immensely. 

"They have been just kind of a model of consistency, said Lane. "They've played in all spots of the order. They've played one through nine at every spot so they've brought it every day. They know what's expected of them and it's good to have five guys like that leading your team and setting a good example for the rest of the team."

Looking at the Ivy Scrimmages

For the first time all season the Quakers will be playing against players that aren't their own. The Red and Blue head to the Ivy Scrimmages in New Haven, Connecticut and will give Coach Lane a good idea where his team is at this early in the season. 

"I think the first thing that's really nice is that we get to play some other competition. We get to see where we are as a team. Especially with a week before our first match against Franklin and Marshall here at home," said Lane. "Im definitely very excited to see the young guys play. David, Wil Hagen, who's also a sophomore, Yash, Ryan, Andrew, the five of them are all underclassmen. Like I said we still expect things from them, but we also know that there's also a big learning curve and it's their first weekend of college squash. So we're excited to see where they are, but also to see where we are amongst our peers and kind of see where everyone else is." 

Season Outlook

While the goal for the Ivy Scrimmages is to see where the Quakers are as a team before the first home match against Franklin and Marshall, the goal for the season is to continue to get better every day. 

"It's real simple," said Lane. "It's always nice to set out numbers and it's always nice say 'we want to do this, we want to do that,' but I think the whole team feels that if we can just focus on ourselves and make sure that we're getting better every day that we'll put ourselves in a good position to be successful. If we look to far ahead I think it's doing a disservice to everyone else."

The Quakers have a schedule filled with some of the best teams in the country. Penn will take on No. 15 Franklin and Marshall the opening weekend at the Ringe Squash Courts before they head on the road to take on No. 17 Virginia and No. 14 Navy. 

On December 3, the Red and Blue will take on No. 3 St Lawrence.

The Quakers begin the new year on January 10 against the University of Rochester before they take on their first Ivy League matches against Yale and Brown all at Ringe Squash Courts. Penn's final non-conference match comes on January 20th against the nation's top team, Trinity.

The Red and Blue head on a three match road trip for a trio of Ivy League matches between February 3-9 before they finish their year at home against Columbia. 

"There's so many good teams this year. Everyone is talented. I think we play the hardest schedule of anyone in the country. We're playing everyone pretty much in the top 16 and the boys definitely like to put themselves against the best to see how they're doing and everyone in college squash has gotten better every year," said Lane. "We're not looking at anything in particular. Every match is a big match for us. We don't like out put out numbers because we totally feel that if we're improving every day and getting better we're going to be in a good position to be successful."

The Quakers' first home matches take place next weekend against Franklin and Marshall at the Ringe Squash Courts.