For a club team with no school funding, recruiting, or coach, the women’s squash team has evolved to establish a name for itself following a strong season.

The team, founded in 2010 by former University students Kirk Bonner ’12 and Morgan Beeson ’12, gained notable momentum through the work of Sarah Antonacci ’16. Through generous donations from parents and alumni, the team has grown to competing in the college circuit.

Unlike other sports, collegiate squash is not a member of the NCAA. Rather, it is run by the College Squash Association, which mixes Division I, Division III, and club teams together in rankings. This leads to the Bison facing schools with extensive program infrastructure, including season rivals Boston College, Georgetown, Vassar, and Haverford.

“As a club team with no coach, no school funding, and no recruitment, we are at a major disadvantage when playing against well-established varsity teams. However, we found great success this season and managed to play competitive matches and see wins against varsity programs with fully-recruited players and coaching staffs,” co-captain Cleo Greenwood ’18 said.

Following the program’s best regular season in history with just two losses, the team earned a spot to compete at the Women’s College Squash National Championships last weekend at Princeton University. Their bracket consisted of all varsity team and Northeastern’s club team that had school funding and a coach. After beating Northeastern 6-3, the team solidified their status as the best club team in the nation and No. 31 overall.

“We have a very young team and first-years make up nearly half of our roster. Since our program is completely self-run, it is up to the players to show up to practice, work on their skills, and commit to advancing them. I have been blown away by the progress that every player has made this season and their willingness to work to be the best club team in the nation,” Greenwood said.

Now that the team has established itself as an unstoppable club team, the possibilities with school funding and/or coaches seem limitless.

“I hope that this season’s success will motivate the school to view us as worthy of becoming a varsity program in the coming years. In order to compete at the highest level possible, I am hoping to become a varsity program in the coming years so that we can utilize a coaching staff and be able to recruit players. In the meantime, I am looking forward to continued success against varsity teams and remaining the country’s best club team,” Greenwood said.