Coming off a season that saw the Amherst women’s squash team end the year ranked 18th nationally with a record of 13-7 overall and yet another College Squash Association Women’s National Team Walker Cup championship, the Mammoths are poised for another excellent campaign. This was the Mammoths’ third championship in four years, having also claimed the title in 2014 and 2015. Bates beat Amherst in the 2016 final.

This represents yet another achievement for a squad that, not too long ago, was competitive but had yet to take the next step.

The championship marked the fourth title in seven years for the Amherst women’s squash team, a remarkable feat considering that they had never won a title before 2009.

Buoyed by this success, and a solid core of both returning and new competitors, the team will look to again attain the previous year’s heights while potentially improving its national ranking.

One of the only failings of last year’s team was a dismal record of 1-6 against ranked opponents.

Looking to help improve upon this unfortunate record is an incoming class of five first-years and one transfer from Columbia, Pierson Klein ’20.

Some of these newcomers will be called on early to fill big roles, but this year’s team has the luxury of allowing these younger competitors to develop lower on the ladder, as the team lost only three seniors to graduation.

The team starts this campaign with a preseason ranking of 17th in the nation and will have to navigate a challenging slate of foes over the next few months.

Above all else, the Mammoths have circled the Little III Championships as a key matchup, which will take place at Wesleyan on Jan. 27. Williams, Wesleyan and Amherst are each ranked inside the preseason top 20, so it will surely be a competitive and intense affair and likely have seeding implications for the NESCAC tournament, which begins less than a week later on Feb. 2.

The Mammoths open the season on Friday, Nov. 16 against 19th-ranked Tufts, and will play the next afternoon against Boston University, which does not field a varsity team.