Led by the comeback victory of Jared Curtis ’11, Andover rolled past St. George’s this past Wednesday 6-1. The team’s improved play stemmed from a myriad of things including more intense drilling and a better understanding of expectations. Andover also played Belmont Hill, a top ranked squash school in the country, on Wednesday. Belmont Hill proved to be too much for Andover. The lack of overall experience proved decisive in the loss, although hope was expressed regarding the future of the team. TJ Lenzo ’12 reported, “our team has potential for years to come as we have some young bucks at the bottom of the ladder.” Last week, Andover faced tough competition, matching up against Westminster and Choate for a second time at Belmont Hill. The day started with a 0-7 loss to Choate. Many of the players made valiant efforts, including Hunter Schalcks ’11 who lost in a dramatic game five after playing smart squash for the entire match. Coach Hodgson noted standout performances from Luke Hanson, ’11 at #4 and Teddy Drake ’11 at #6 in the loss. The day concluded with an Andover matchup against Westminster, where TJ Lenzo ’12 prevailed in five games and Kun Woo Kim ’14 lost a hard-fought battle in five games. Andover’s #3 Hayato Lee ’12 lost 3-1, but played particularly well in the thrid and fourth games. Captain Jared Curtis commented on these matches, stating, “each member of our team has grown in leaps and bounds since the outset of the season, developing their own specific style of play.” Hodgson also talked about the matches last Saturday with a positive attitude, saying, “Overall we won, or were close (11-8 or better) in more than half the games we played. That is a big improvement over our earlier results. It means that we are becoming much more competitive against strong teams.” Despite coming home with only one overall win, the team demonstrated much improvement from the beginning of the season and played every match competitively. Andover varsity squash will be heading to the Hartford area to play at High School Nationals this upcoming weekend. At the tournament, which is split up in to multiple divisions, over 100 school will compete. Each Andover player will play four or five matches, a great chance to gain some experience as the team also looks toward Interschols.
