Girls Squash continued its impressive season, commanding a 7-1 victory last Friday over Groton and extending the momentum for the following match against Noble & Greenough (Nobles) on Wednesday, coming out victorious again with a 5-2 win. With their victory against Nobles, they extended their win streak to four games, beating their opponents a total of 29-3 through this four-game stretch.
Leading up to the match last Friday, the team knew that it needed to be both mentally and physically prepared to secure a win. Co-Captain Migyu Kim ’25 recounted the team’s past preparation of focusing on diversifying its shot selections.
“Each day of practice, we focused on different shots we wanted to improve. We’ve been working a lot on using different patterns and sequences in our game and doing really intentional drills. I think that helped with our games and confidence,” said Migyu Kim.
Rachel Levitzky ’28 recounted the mental challenges she faced in her match. She noted that her worry sometimes prevented her from executing clean shots, leading to mistakes in crucial moments.
“For me, I panic towards the end of a game, and I need to remind myself to stay calm and play a clean game. That’s a consistent challenge for me. Our coach told us a few days ago that our focus should be balance. We’re going to work on it during our next match — staying balanced in our games. Personally, I’m just going to focus on not panicking by the end,” said Levitzky.
Minnie Kim ’27 also reflected on the importance of mental resilience in Wednesday’s game. She also offered wisdom regarding the influx of new team members, stating that the players’ focus should be to enjoy the game rather than succumbing to the pressure.
“We all had tough matches. The individual players were really good, but overall, we had to stay resilient. We can work on our mental strength. Obviously, we’re really hard workers, but in matches, we need to stay in a fighting spirit. Some advice I would give to the new players would be that they should come onto the court wanting to have fun and see it as a way to let off steam rather than gaining more stress,” said Minnie Kim.
Minnie Kim explained how the team can create a strong team culture and build bonds despite the notion that squash is an individual game. One way is by cheering for teammates’ matches.
“Right now, we gel really well together as a team. We can cheer each other on really well, which makes our culture so strong. In a match, you’re playing alone on the court, but off the court, you have your teammates. You also have your player-coach who gives you advice during each game. You get close with everyone on the team because you’re constantly coaching and supporting each other. If you’re struggling, they lift you up. It’s great to have people like that, knowing someone is supporting you on the other side of the wall,” said Minnie Kim.
With Nationals just two weeks away, the team has set its sights for a top-five finish. Having been placed eighth last year, the team has been refining its overall gameplay, in particular sharpening its shots, to ensure they are in peak form.
“This week, we started working on volleying and tightening up our shots to be more precise and accurate. We’ll continue focusing on that and ensuring we don’t settle since we’ve been doing well. It’s important to stay motivated. This year, we have a lot of new talent and strong players. Our goal is to finish in the top five at Nationals, which is coming up at the end of the month. I think this could be a really strong season for us and one of our best finishes ever,” said Migyu Kim.
This Friday, the team will face the Brooks School at home, looking to continue its strong run before the biggest tournament of the season.
