Tied at 3-3, everything came down to third seed Charlotte Toogood ’20, as her match was the deciding factor against Exeter. Toogood stormed back from a 2-1 deficit to clinch a 4-3 victory for Andover Girls Squash at home against Exeter. Andover’s record now stands at 7-5.
Coach Midori Ishizuka ’11 was impressed by Toogood’s composure after losing the second and third game, and then going down late in the fifth game after a questionable point.
“She was able to just come back on court as if she was walking on for the first time, regain her composure, and play with confidence… When she lost a point in the fifth game, I was worried she was going to let that affect the rest of the game, [but] I knew she was going to win at that point because she forgot about the point she lost and she went on to win every point after that,” Ishizuka said.
According to fourth seed Saffron Agrawal ’21 and Coach Ishizuka, Toogood and other players relied on their teammates to help them secure comeback wins.
Agrawal said, “Between the matches, we coached [Charlotte], suggesting that she hit it deeper and mix up her pace. And in between matches three and four, she did exactly that. We were really proud of her for taking the coach’s advice to heart and really executing what they said.”
“I think what our girls did really well was keep their composure after those games that they lost, take our advice, take their teammates advice, and they got back on the court. They were ready to play, and they all came back and they won,” added Ishizuka.
According to eighth seed Serena Liu ’19, Andover was able to win against Exeter in part because of its strong team spirit, which it looks to continue with Interscholastics looming this weekend.
“We came in the end very strong and I think that is because we have been working hard all season to play together and win as a team. Also, we’ve been improving our skills over the course of these past few months, so I think it really came together and it showed at the end here how much we’ve done to support each other,” Liu said.
Andover plays in the Interscholastic tournament Friday through Sunday.
