Head Coach John Roberts and Assistant Coach William Yu Work as One Coaching Unit
Jan 17, 2020
Defeating his opponent 11-0 in the first game, Arthur Nguyen ’22 won his match in three games, contributing to Andover Boys Squash’s clean sweep over Choate this past Saturday. The team’s record now stands at 3-2.
According to Andy Weissman ’23 and Head Coach John Roberts, each player’s strong performance and mental strength were key to the team’s success.
Weissman said, “We have a lot of depth on our team [and it] allowed us to get that big win we wanted.”
“[The] level of patience and focus from our players was very impressive. Everyone managed to win their matches 3-0 which is very difficult to do,” Roberts added in an email to The Phillipian.
With its third consecutive victory, Andover has bounced back from its slower start. Despite the team’s winning run, Weissman believes it has not reached its full potential yet.
“I definitely think that there is more to come. We started off our season a little slow since we lost our first two matches, but I think we are starting to ramp it up now, and all of our practices have helped us improve. We are on a roll, and we have a lot of motivation as we move on in the season,” said Weissman.
On Monday, Andover traveled to Brooks and won 6-1. According to Nguyen, individual players’ improvement in mentality is one reason why the team won three matches in a row.
Nguyen said, “Compared to the first two matches, we were more prepared and there was a lot more urgency in our play.”
According to Siddhant Sinha ’21 and Nguyen, the team strives to make improvements to prepare for tougher matches in the future.
Sinha said, “I think that we can always improve. We are playing well right now [but] I think that it is going to be the tougher fixtures in the future that will really challenge us and I would love to see how we do then. I have confidence in the team and I think we can do it.”
Nguyen added, “The matches weren’t too difficult and everyone did pretty well [but] we need to put more pressure on our opponents and play at a faster pace.”
The team’s performances in the upcoming weeks will affect its seeding at the 2020 Head U.S. High School National Championships, and Andover must be at its best to come out on top in these must-win matches, according to Roberts.
In an email to The Phillipian, Roberts wrote, “We have a big two weeks coming up [and] as we enter this difficult stretch of the season, we’ll be focusing a lot on our ability to grind out wins using smart, controlled, error-free squash. This obviously gets harder against strong teams but will be crucial for us.”
Andover will look to extend its winning streak when it travels to Groton on Friday.
