The University of Pennsylvania men’s and women’s squash teams are set to compete on the road this weekend, facing Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. The men’s team, currently ranked third nationally, will play against seventh-ranked Columbia in New York City before traveling to Ithaca to face tenth-ranked Cornell. The women’s team, ranked second in the country, will meet thirteenth-ranked Columbia and then seventh-ranked Cornell.
Both teams are returning to regular competition after participating in the CSA Individual championships last week. Franka Vidovic, senior captain of the women’s team, reached the quarterfinals but was defeated by top seed Zeina Zein. On the men’s side, senior captain Omar Hafez won all five of his matches and secured the 2026 Pool Trophy for Penn for the sixth time in program history. Hafez joins teammate Salman Khalil as back-to-back national champions for Penn, marking a first for the program. Hafez is tied with Zane Patel for most wins this season at seven.
Columbia’s women’s team has struggled early in their season with one win out of six matches. Isha Gupta leads with four victories while Kaavya has three wins. Nourin Khalifa has played at the top position recently with a 1-2 record over three matches.
The Columbia men’s squad holds a 4-2 record and has won two of its last three games. Yusuf Sheikh and Paarth Ambani each have five wins this season; Ambani remains undefeated so far.
Cornell’s women’s team is ranked seventh nationally and began their season with a 5-3 record. Yee Xin Ying has secured four wins at the first position while Alysa Ali and Maya Voloshin both have five wins each.
Cornell’s men are currently ranked tenth but have lost four consecutive matches after starting strong at 4-1. Syan Singh and Youssef Sarhan each have five wins; Vivaan Shah leads with six victories overall.
The Penn men’s team aims to rebound from two recent losses while the women seek to maintain their unbeaten streak and become the first in the nation to reach ten wins this season.
