This weekend, Boys Varsity Squash had a series of tough matches. Despite losing to St. Mark’s School on Friday, the team was able to pull off a narrow victory over Nobles and Greenough School. Rishi Jalan ’09, Tony Zou ’09, Captain Graham Miao ’09, Trey Meyer ’09, Kyul Rhee ’10, Anthony Chau ’09 and Hunter Schlacks ’10 constituted the lineup for the Friday match against St. Mark’s, which Andover lost five games to two. Despite the dominating play of both Jalan and Miao, the rest of the team lost their matches. “We could’ve won, but we lost disappointingly at key matches,” said Miao. On Saturday, Andover faced Nobles. The team went into the match expecting a very easy win yet again, but was surprised by the challenge presented by the Nobles squad. Andover prevailed, however, winning by a narrow four matches to three. Miao was happy for the win but not completely content. “If we were to play them again, I think we could achieve something like a 6-1 victory,” said Miao. Like the St. Mark’s loss, a lack of mental resolve plagued the team throughout the weekend, resulting in below-average play. Eugene Chau ‘09 and Alex Park ’09 played at eighth and ninth positions on the ladder, respectively. Though they had very close games, neither could pull through with a victory. However, Anthony Chau, Jalan, Miao and Schlacks did not let the losses affect their matches. Miao played a great game and won quite easily. Chau began his match neck and neck with a score of one to one, but he played smart and took control to win three games to one. “Anthony exploited his opponent’s backhand and movement weaknesses,” said Miao. After playing challenge matches on Tuesday, the ladder for Wednesday’s game was selected. Jalan, Miao, Zou, Rhee, Meyer, Schlacks and Anthony Chau all prepared to play a highly anticipated game against St. Paul’s School in which the stability of the ladder would be tested. “St. Paul’s has a good team and some newcomers just like us, but based on our compared results it’s clear we’re better overall,” said Miao. Due to the bad weather, however, Andover could not play against St. Paul’s on Wednesday.
