Sports

Boys Unable To Continue Nationals Momentum

After falling to the same St. Paul’s opponent in four games earlier this season, Jack Quamme ’16 outlasted his opponent in a five game thriller and avenged his previous losses this past Saturday at the Boys Squash Interschols. Despite Quamme’s redemption, Andover placed last among the 16 teams in group A. Although the team earned a total of 26 points, only four Andover players won matches throughout the tournament: Quamme, Co-Captain Jack Wain ’14, Rem Remmel ’14 and Justin Curtis ’15. “While we didn’t perform as well as we might have liked, since the competition was very impressive, we are pretty satisfied with how we played. We all looked at this weekend as a learning experience, because playing against players with such a high level of play, there was much to learn from,” said Quamme. Many of the matches came down to determination. “Towards the end it became a match of endurance. In the fifth game, it was essentially a test of will and simply which one of us wanted it more,” said Quamme. He lost in his previous match against a player from Groton in four games and lost his third match in five close games that could have gone either way. Co-Captain Michael Huang ’15 lost all three of his matches to top-tier opponents. His matches against St. Paul’s and Nobles started off neck-and-neck, but he lost momentum and was unable to close them out. Wain won by default against Belmont Hill in his first match, but then suffered three consecutive losses. In his second match against Brunswick, he faced a player ranked in the top ten in the nation. Against Westminster, Wain showed improvement, winning the first game 11-8, but, afterwards, he fell 11-9, 12-10, 11-8. Although the team was disappointed with the Interschols results, Andover is proud of the team progress and chemistry it has made over the season. Huang added, “We were happy with the improvement throughout the season. We started off playing poorly, then really picked up the level of play towards Nationals. We developed into a closer team through Nationals.” The team placed 14th at Interschols last year, and, despite the loss of multiple experienced players from last season, Andover was able to maintain a consistent level of play over the last two seasons. “I think I can speak for the other Seniors when I say that it was nice to go out with all of your teammates cheering you on and supporting you,” said Wain. Of the 11 players on the roster, over half will be graduating. Already, Andover is looking to fill their places and put the team back on an upward trend. “In order to make substantial improvements next year, we are going to have to take better advantage of our off-season,” said Huang.