2/11 – Andover: 7, St. George’s: 0
Boys Squash (11–2) took home a fourth consecutive sweep on Wednesday, defeating St. George’s and winning all matches across the board. This set of matches was the team’s last before the U.S. Squash High School Team Championships and New England Interscholastic Squash Association (NEISA) Championships.
Franklin Kozol ’27 pointed out the atmosphere and the confidence the team had before going into its matches. He emphasized that the team made sure to ensure its confidence was not a distraction and instead a driver for its success.
“We went into that match with a lot of confidence, knowing that we were the better team there, and it’s good to see 3–0 [victories] on the board all around and executing even when we had those expectations for us to win and that confidence. We didn’t let that get to our head and still got the win,” said Kozol.
Regardless of how good a team is, challenges are always present in any competitive setting. Especially in earlier matches, Boys Squash saw closer scores when playing against St. George’s. Co-Captain Alexander Yang ’26 detailed the difficulties faced early on, also mentioning the team’s calm and collected state of mind throughout and before matchplay.
“The first games usually are close for some players, because they obviously were coming out fresh, and trying to win. But we were all able to handle that pretty well,” said Yang.
Yang continued, “The general mood was pretty relaxed. Everyone was pretty chill. But obviously, during the match, we were all focused.”
The Snyder Center holds 12 international-size squash courts, as well as the Mead Exhibition Court, which is enclosed by glass on three sides. Corey Shen ’26 [Co-Captain] praised Yang for his first ever performance on the court.
“Alexander Yang stepped up today. It was his first time playing on the [Mead Exhibition Court], and he really wanted to play [there throughout] his four years at Andover. He has never really played on the [court], and that is a trademark feature of the squash courts at Andover. So[, against St. George’s,] he got to play his first official match there. The glass court bounces differently from the usual white courts, and he was stepping up, he was adjusting to the court, and he was adjusting to the conditions. There were just a lot of things that he had to adjust to. I thought he adjusted very well.” said Shen.
Kozol mentioned that a team’s strength stems from its utilization of both wins and losses as motivation for future matches. He shared that the team hopes to use its win against St. George’s as a way to grow and build confidence.
“[Our win] tells us what we need to work on because it is like painting on a blank canvas. It is more about what you can control and less about the struggle that is being presented by the opponent because they are not as good. For example, the Westminster match last week and the Choate match last week as well for most people were not as challenging. That shows us where we stand and what we need to work on next week in the little time between [the U.S. Squash High School Team Championships] and [NEISA Championships],” said Kozol.
Boys Squash will travel to the University of Pennsylvania to compete in the U.S. Squash High School Team Championships, which will take place from Friday, February 20 to Sunday, February 22.
