ITHACA, N.Y. — Armed with a few key veterans and lots of new talent in the freshman class, the men's and women's squash teams will set out to improve upon their sixth-place finishes in the national championships when the 2014-15 season commences this weekend with the Cornell Round Robin at Belkin International Squash Courts.
 
Both teams will play Williams at 8 p.m. Friday and George Washington at 10 a.m. Saturday, plus one additional match per side bookending the weekend. The men's team will open against Western Ontario at 5 p.m. Friday, then the women's team will wrap up the weekend with an 11 a.m. Sunday showdown against Stanford. While Western Ontario is currently ranked 15th, it has perennially been just a couple spots behind Cornell — and Stanford is one place behind the Big Red women's team, exactly where it has been for nearly three years.
 
Both Big Red squads have very strong senior co-captains at the top of the ladder in Danielle Letourneau and Aditya Jagtap. Junior Reut Odinak teams with Letourneau to captain the women's team, while juniors Gustav Runersjö and Graham Dietz join Jagtap as tri-captains.
 
Cornell's women's team begins the season ranked sixth, where it has remained since knocking off Stanford in the Howe Cup consolation semifinals at the end of the 2011-12 season. Letourneau clinched the match with a five-game victory from her familiar position at the No. 1 position, where she has amassed all but two of her 30 career victories in a decorated career on East Hill. She is a three-time College Squash Association First Team All-American and a three-time All-Ivy League First Team selection, bidding to become the program's first four-time honoree in both categories since Olga Puidgemont Sola '02.
 
After Letourneau, the Big Red will likely see a large contribution from its freshman class. Michele Garceau, Charlotte Knaggs, Margaux Losty and Emma Uible are all expected to compete in the top nine. Juniors Olivia Wherry and Reut Odinak — the latter serving as co-captain alongside Letourneau — were tied for a team-best nine victories last season, primarily from positions 6, 7 and 8. Seniors Rachel Au and Lindsay Seginson, and sophomore Rachel Scherman had five wins apiece from the middle of the ladder last season.
 
Cornell won't have to wait long to see where it stands, either. In an intriguing quirk to the schedule, five of the Big Red's first six matches are against the teams immediately behind it in the national rankings. In chronological order, that's Williams (12), George Washington (8), Stanford (7), Columbia (9) and Brown (11).
 
The men's squash team is coming off a program-record sixth consecutive season with at least 10 victories. That final win was a 5-4 upset over Rochester in the consolation semifinals of the Potter Cup, allowing the Big Red to move back up to sixth place in the year-end rankings.
 
While the loss of four-time CSA All-American and four-time All-Ivy League pick Nick Sachvie to graduation will change the landscape, the Big Red has a strong replacement for the No. 1 position in Jagtap. The two-time All-Ivy League selection led the team with a 13-3 record last season, primarily from the No. 2 spot. Co-captains Dietz and Runersjö also had 10 and 11 wins, respectively, from positions 4 through 8 on the ladder. Senior Ryan Todd is expected to return after missing roughly half of last season due to injury.
 
Just like the women's team, the men's team sees a marked increase in depth. All five incoming freshmen — Jordan Brail, Liad Hare, Seb Obieta-Chichizola, Ian Rothweiler and Andrew Stone — are expected to compete primarily in the top nine.
 
Due to a change in how the CSA handles preseason rankings — which is now entirely in the hands of a coaches' vote from the top 25 teams — the Big Red has dropped two spots to No. 8 before the season has even started. After starting off with Western Ontario, the Big Red takes on No. 14 Williams and No. 17 George Washington this weekend. That sets the stage for a match against No. 6 Columbia in the teams' Ivy League debut on Dec. 7 before the semester break.