Cody Comyns ’23 got off to a quick start against Tabor Academy’s seventh-seed player, Jerry Wei, with an 11-0 win in his first game. Conceding just three points in his next two games, Comyns swept his match 3-0. Despite the top three players losing its matches, Andover Boys Squash’s bottom four sweeps propelled it to a 4-3 victory against Tabor. Andover’s record now stands at 4-0.
Sean-Winston Luo ’24 emphasized the importance of team spirit within an individual sport like squash. According to Luo, the team’s recent bonding was an influential aspect contributing to its victory.
“I think the team is really becoming a team as recently especially… squash is an individual sport, so a lot of the time we are playing for ourselves. But that’s not the spirit we should be playing as a team and this really embodied that,” said Luo.
Andy Weissman ’23 described the challenges that came with playing in an away game. However, according to Weissman, the team was able to successfully adapt to its unfamiliarity with Tabor’s courts despite a slow start.
“We did well, we were very patient starting off, just because these were courts that we weren’t used to, and they’re also really cold. So the ball was moving kind of in a way that we weren’t used to. So the team was really patient, especially in the first few games to sort of ease into the matches, and that allowed us to pull off some good wins that we needed,” Weissman said.
As the fourth seed, Aidan Lin ’23 defeated his opponent 3-0, winning his matches with scores of 11-9, 11-4, and 11-3. Luo praised Lin for his swift return from quarantine and winning his match.
Luo said, “I’m also really proud of my teammate Aidan Lin. He had quarantine and everything so he hasn’t been able to get on the court a lot. And this is his second day back from playing. He only went to practice yesterday, and I’m really proud of him.”
Having had four canceled games since Andover’s return to campus, the team’s win against Tabor marked its first match since December. According to Lin, the team is still working on getting back to routine after the long pause.
“I think we did a good job getting the ball and back. Just getting in the rhythm of playing again. It’s been a while since we played a match. So it’s been good to get back out on the courts. Yeah, [we’re working on] definitely changing up our games during the match. Felt pretty repetitive after a while, and it got pretty easy to see what we’re gonna hit. So just being more unpredictable,” said Lin.
With its players returning from break at different times due to mandatory quarantines, the team is looking to ease back into the season. Moving forward, the team is focused on maintaining its composure during games, according to Weissman.
Weissman said, “We’re focused on going into the matches, getting back into match play, obviously, because we had that long break. So a lot of guys have been playing a lot of squash. So we’re just really focused on sort of staying calm and just getting back into heading in.”
Andover will look to extend its winning record this Saturday as it travels to Hopkins to face Phillips Exeter Academy, Hotchkiss, and Hopkins.
