Due to an injury on the team, all players on Girls Squash played one position up during its game against Choate on Saturday.
Saturday 1/6 — Andover: 4, Choate: 3
Wednesday 1/10 — Andover: 1, Winsor School: 6
Andover Girls Squash (4-1) played against Choate, pulling off a 4-3 overall win on Saturday. On Wednesday, the team had its first loss of the season against the number 1 Winsor School, winning one match out of seven.
Saturday’s matches against Choate brought ups and downs for the team. Co-Captain Migyu Kim ʼ25 highlighted the collective persistence that helped the team secure the overall win.
“I was really happy with the overall performance, for the bottom four players, while we did have some losses, I think that they gave their best performances and everything that they had at the moment against their players and didn’t give up and continued to show their best selves against these really strong opponents… There weren’t any easy matches and everyone really gave it their all and were disciplined and focused in their matches,” said Kim.
Similarly, Co-Captain Christina Yen ʼ24 admired her teammates’ grit in their close competition with the opponents. With the intense pressure of the match, the win required a full team effort.
“We won 4-3, and a couple of them were deciding matches. I know especially because our number two, Migyu Kim, was injured and she had to stay out, there was a lot more pressure for some of our players who are lower on the ladder to step up and I’m really proud of my team for being able to do that and winning that match,” said Yen.
Kim saw the performances of teammates Ellie Israelov ʼ25 and Selene Xu ʼ27 to be some of the highlights of the Saturday. Kim emphasized their level-headedness throughout their matches.
“Ellie had some difficult games, but her composure on court and the way that she played and kept fighting was really memorable. I thought that Selene played great as well…even when things were getting a little bit tough, she stayed focused and calm and just kept on running after every ball too, so that was really admirable,” said Kim.
On Wednesday, the team’s matchup against a strong Winsor program resulted in a loss, with Kim winning the only match of the day. Despite the outcome, Xu noted the intensity of every individual player’s match.
“Winsor has a very strong squash program, but it was a very valuable chance for us to get because we could play with opponents who were a similar level or stronger than us… One of our Captains, Migyu Kim, won, so that was really impressive. Everyone fought really tough, everyone was trying to get one point at a time eventually hoping to win, but they were apparently a bit stronger than us, but we can learn a lot from today’s match,” said Xu.
Xu shared that the environment of the matches uplifted the spirits of the team’s first loss of the season. While it wasn’t the desired final score, Xu felt that it was still an opportunity for teammates to share observations with one another.
Xu said, “The coaching in general was amazing, where we would help our teammates a lot and give them valuable feedback on how we can improve and what we did good on. Overall, everyone did a great job encouraging each other and giving constructive feedback.”
Kim shared that while on a larger scale the team hopes to see success in post season tournaments, it is taking the second half of the season one step at a time, focusing on individual aspects of the game.
“I think that all of us are still working on sharpening up all of our points and just working on our fitness and all the usual things and are striving to be the best we can possibly be. [We are] of course, working toward New Englands and Nationals at the end of the season, but those are more longer-term goals, so we’re just taking it match by match and working on specific shots and focuses each day,” said Kim.
Girls Squash will be away this Saturday facing Taft, Loomis Chaffee, and Phillips Exeter Academy at Loomis.
