Last year, the men’s squash team posted a respectable 10-9 record to close out the season ranked 11th in the nation. Definitive losses were at the hands of perennial powerhouses, such as first-ranked Trinity College, fifth-ranked University of Pennsylvania and eighth-ranked Dartmouth University. The Jeffs dropped closer matches to ninth-ranked Cornell University, 10th-ranked Naval Academy, 12th-ranked Bates College and 14th-ranked Brown University, though they were able to avenge the losses to Bates and Cornell in later bouts.

This season, the Jeffs return a solid core of veteran players, despite losing co-captains Peter Hatfield and Auloke Mathur, along with Stu Landesberg and Craig McCready, due to graduation. Though their shoes won’t be easy to fill, the Jeffs have the leadership to do so. Senior co-captains Mark Rapisarda and Andrew Slutsky look to lead the squad with solid play in the number three and number seven positions, respectively. The Class of 2009 makes up a large portion of the squad, with Ben Bishop, Drew Blacker, Brad Corbin, Jerome Giovinazzo and Brian Warner all looking to improve upon last year’s performances. Blacker will likely play a major role in this season’s success, as he played in the number one position for much of last year. Bishop and Giovinazzo also saw significant competition last year, playing in the fifth and ninth positions, respectively, for the majority of the season. Corbin and Warner will be working for more playing time this season, while returning sophomores Nick Kramer, Cornelius Banta and Saahil Sud will look to do the same.

As far as newcomers, the men welcome four first-years, along with a new junior and a senior. First-years Kevin Cecala, Marcelo Cifuentes, Jacob Glass and Tom Rapisarda will look to make an impact in their rookie seasons, while junior David Glanton and senior Doug Barnett will seek to round out the squad’s talent. The returning players are optimistic about this season’s new talent, and will be expecting contributions early on. While acknowledging that the team will miss last year’s seniors, Rapisarda asserted that, “At the same time, we have at least five new faces to the team, including my brother Tom.” Smiling, he added, “Everyone knows Rapisardas get the job done.”

This season’s schedule will be very similar to last year’s. Amherst will once again face off against the renowned Trinity and Penn squads, while adding Vassar and Columbia, ranked 35th and 38th, respectively, to their competition. Of notable concern for the Jeffs is a difficult week-long stretch in which they will play Dartmouth, Penn and Brown. Although the competition will be tough, the men are confident they will be prepared for the challenge. The team’s goals for the season, according to Rapisarda, are “pretty simple: beat Williams and end the season as one of the top 10 nationally ranked teams; they kind of go hand-in-hand.”