The Muhlenberg men’s and women’s basketball teams have officially wrapped up season play. Both teams faced great competition inside and outside of the Centennial Conference, allowing little room for any type of rest during the past few months. The majority of players on both teams lost anticipated time on the court last year, making the ability to play this past season memorable on its own—regardless of their records.
Tara Szawaluk ‘22, Margaux Eripret ‘22, Amanda Gorski ‘22 and Sarah Peretti ‘23 all recorded double figures in their last game and led the Mules to end their season with a big win against Washington College—collecting a 11-14 record.
Eripret noted, “This season was really special for the seniors because we finally got to have a full season after losing our junior year to COVID. We were just so happy to be playing again after such a long time.”
Eripret continued, “As for next year, it’s exciting to see the potential because there were games this year where we played really good team basketball and showed what we could do. Unfortunately, we just weren’t consistent enough to end the season the way we had hoped. The underclassmen got a lot of experience under their belts and it’s really exciting to think about what could happen next for us.”
Emily Vaughn ‘25 said, “This season was full of challenges. We had to shut down for COVID and had a few team injuries. Despite that, we fought hard every practice and game. The freshman and sophomores never played in a college game before this season so the juniors and seniors really stepped up and set the time for the season.”
The men’s team completed Feb. 19 with a tightly-contested game against Washington College, ending in a 81-83 loss to tally their record at 9-16. They faced plenty of injuries prior to the season and during it, which made it difficult to develop consistency. However, these unfortunate circumstances allowed room for several underclassmen to seek key roles on the court.
Giovanni Rubino ‘24 says, “The highlight of the season had to be our win at Swarthmore, it shows that we are capable of competing with some of the best teams in the country.”
The team’s overall record is not indicative of the high quality competition that they faced and the talent which the team is composed of.
“All of the underclassmen got an opportunity to prove that they belong on the court this season, and I have a great feeling that this team will only continue to improve from here on out,” notes former rookie of the year and preseason All-American Dan Gaines ‘22.
Playing a sport isn’t always about the physicality of the sport itself but also the life lessons that come from being a part of a team. Nate Henty Brown ‘22 agrees with this statement and said, “As a senior looking back on my last four years I see now that being a part of a team is the confrontations that you have, it is the holding of your tongue and listening to others, it is the celebrating of the accomplishments of ours louder than your own, it is picking up your teammates when you yourself are down and finally it is doing things because they are the right thing to do and not because they are convenient.”
Henty Brown continues, “So other than working on their respective games I would tell the guys that are returning to keep focusing on being good people and maintaining that sense of family within the locker room that we have fostered over the last four years.”
Both teams have a lot of potential moving forward with great sets of returning athletes, who have clearly been under the impression of dedicated seniors.
Gaines offers a piece of advice to all of those returning players, “Time flies by, take advantage of all the opportunities that are given to you.”
