Andover Boys Squash rose to the Class A draw at the New England Interscholastic Squash Championships this year after posting an impressive 10-6 regular season record. In the Championships, the team placed 14th out of 16 teams in the very difficult Class A draw. “Playing in Division A was challenging because all the top 16 schools from New England participated,” said Alex Kim ’14. “Although we faced many top players, we could’ve done better overall.” Andover had the potential to place higher because it placed behind both St. George’s and Exeter, two teams it beat during the regular season. “Some injuries and unlucky draws contributed to a lower performance than expected,” said Kim. The team only lost to St. George’s and Exeter by two and eight points respectively, showing how close the competition was at the championships. Justin Curtis ’15 won two out of his four matches and placed eighth individually, the highest finish on the team. Alec Buck ’13 won one out of his three matches; his win came in his last squash match as a student at Andover. Captain Alex Demeulenaere ’13 lost two of his three matches, but he won his last match and placed 13th. “My last match was really important to me because it was my last match at Andover,” said Demeulenaere. “I played really well and came out with the win.” Being placed in this division was a huge accomplishment for Andover, and the team faced some of the highest ranked players and teams in the country. Malachi Price ’13 won two out of four matches and had the only win on the last day of the championships. Despite losing all of his matches against extremely skilled opponents, Michael Huang ’15 placed 15th. Kim placed 13th with one win and two losses. Cam Morose ’13 played a great first match against Exeter in which he utilized his skills and played a smart, tactical match. Playing with an injury, he ended up with a loss. Although injuries became a factor towards the end of the season, the team battled through and greatly improved from last season. Andover won 10 matches this year as opposed to the six it won last year and defeated many teams that it had lost to last season. “We had a great group of guys and really surprised many teams in the league by the level of our play,” said Demeulenaere. “Hopefully this season was the beginning of an upward trajectory for Andover squash.” As Interschols marked the end of this squash season, Morose said, “It was sad to play my last squash match for PA. We had a great team, with great coaches and great leadership by the Seniors, especially our captain Alex Demeulenaere. I feel privileged to be a part of such a team.”
