Sports

Lenzo ’12 Beats Opponent in Overtime; Squash Finishes Sixth at Nationals

Andover Boys Squash placed sixth in the high school national tournament at Avon Old Farms School over the weekend and matched last year’s tournament production.

Andover won its first match against St. Luke’s of New Canaan with a score of 4-3.

Alec Buck ’13, Malachi Price ’13 and Cam Morose ’13 all won their matches in three games, and Justin Curtis ’15, who played as the fourth seed, defeated his opponent in four games 11-7, 7-11, 11-9 and 11-5.

Andover’s top two seeds, Kun Woo Kim ’14 and Alex Demeulenaere ’13 dropped their matches, and TJ Lenzo ’12 lost in five close games.

On Saturday, Andover lost its second match of the weekend 1-6 to the Hackley School. Price was the sole highlight of the match, as he won his match in five games 11-3, 11-7, 7-11, 7-11 and 11-8.

In the second match on Saturday, Andover eked out a 4-3 win against Friends School. Curtis, Price and Morose won their matches in three games, and Kim, Demeulenaere and Buck all lost in three, leaving the two teams in a tense stalemate. Lenzo battled his opponent with strong offense and defense and defeated him in overtime of the fifth game.

Andover finished the tournament 2-2, as it dropped its match 4-3 on Sunday against Nobles, a team that Andover had been scheduled to play earlier in the season but was unable to because of snow.

Demeulenaere won his game 11-8, 11-6, and 17-15 in a long overtime.

Coach Thomas Hodgson said, “That was Demeulenaere’s best squash of the year. He played an opponent he’d lost to before, and he played very well. Two of the games were the best squash I’d ever seen him play.”

Demeulenaere said, “I played more intelligently than previously. I was patient with each point, and I attacked when I got an opening. Playing at two [on the ladder] forced me to play very consistently, because many of my opponents do not make that many mistakes. The game becomes more tactical as the level increases. I had played the same kid last year, and I think my game has improved greatly since then.”

Buck won in five games and Morose won in three. However, the rest of the team could not pull through.

Following the tournament, Andover defeated St. George’s 5-2 on Wednesday to finish up a successful week. With the end of the season fast approaching, Andover has two more matches against Brooks and Exeter before Interschols.