Squash... Um, It's Like Racketball, Right?

Tonight on ESPN, #1 Duke will take on #4 Wake Forest in men's college basketball. If you're a big sports fan, you probably knew that already.

Now that may be big, but it's not #1 vs. #2. As far as we can tell, the only place that's happening is at the Jadwin Squash Courts, where the Princeton women (#1) take on Penn (#2) in a rematch of last year's national championship final.

Now, you may already know that too. After all, you're reading TigerBlog, which you came to from GoPrincetonTigers.com, which means you're probably a Princeton fan. And that means you probably know that Princeton has a pretty good squash program, even if you honestly don't know what that means. Any maybe you don't even care.

If you don't know, here's a little run-down of the great sport of college squash (a TigerBlog favorite). And if you don't care, perhaps this isn't the piece for you.

Squash is somewhat like racketball, which you may have played once or twice in college. There are different rules and different equipment; for instance, a squash ball is far more dead than a racketball. In squash, you go get the ball; in racketball, it's probably going to find you at some point.

Teams play nine varsity players per match, ranked first through ninth based on a system of challenge matches. For instance, Amanda Siebert will play No. 1 for Princeton because she won her last challenge match against whoever was No. 2 at the time. Challenge matches don't occur daily at practice, but they happen enough that lineups can and will fluctuate during the year.

Matches can be played in either two or three shifts. Most matches, including tonight, will be played in two shifts. This means that the even-numbered matches (2, 4, 6, 8 and a JV 10th match) will be played first. The players for the odd-numbered matches will serve as refs for these matches, and vice versa. In a situation when a "let" is asked for (meaning a do-over) because the two players accidentally bumped each other, the referee has to determine the call. It is not an ideal way to manage matches, but you're more likely to find Bigfoot than five capable squash referees for a Wednesday night in Princeton.

A three-shift match, used primarily for the national tournaments, will be played on three courts. Shift one is matches 3, 6 and 9, followed by 2, 5 and 8 and then 1, 4 and 7.

Each match counts the same; winning the No. 1 match is no more important than the No. 9 match. Individual matches are best three of five games, with individual games being won with nine points. You can only score on your serve, and if you get to 8-8, there are a couple ways to determine the game.

Now, this is a VERY basic explanation of the game (and if you're a crazed squash fan, don't kill TigerBlog for simplifying it), but it might help you understand it better. It is a fast-moving sport with incredible athleticism. Two evenly matched players can play dramatic point after dramatic point. When you figure that five of these matches go on at the same time, these team matches tend to be a lot of fun and quite exciting.

Princeton hosts a number of matches this season for both the men and the women, including the men's team national championships from Feb. 20-22. TigerBlog will talk more about that weekend later, but trust us; if the Sunday final is between Princeton and Trinity, do everything you can to get here.

Tonight's match won't have the same atmosphere because students are on break and the weather is lousy, but if you can make it, it should be well worth it. The women's match at 5:30 seems destined for a 5-4 or 6-3 decision with several tight matches, and the following men's match features a Princeton team that has won the Ivy League three straight seasons.