1/24 – Andover: 7, Noble and Greenough: 0
1/25 – Andover: 2, Hotchkiss: 5
1/25 – Andover: 6, Hopkins: 1
1/29 – Andover: 5, St. Paul’s: 2
Boys Squash (7-4) showcased grit and determination in their four matches this past week. Although Andover began the week strong by sweeping Noble & Greenough (Nobles), it lost against Hotchkiss in a doubleheader on Saturday. However, the team quickly rebounded with two dominant victories against Hopkins, in the same doubleheader, and St. Paul’s on Wednesday.
Franklin Kozol ’27 commented about the game against Nobles, praising his teammates despite his own narrow defeat as the eighth seed. Although there were some closer matches during the top seeded players’ games, the team closed out the games.
“The team executed everywhere that they needed to. We got in there, we did what we needed to, and we got out with all wins. I disappointedly lost as the eight [seed], but thankfully the eighth spot doesn’t count because I disappointed my team a little bit. However, everyone else did what they needed to. We had some tougher matches towards the top, but I think the team still handled them very well,” said Kozol.
Kozol commended Corey Shen ’26 for his perseverance during his match. Although his opponent won the third game 11-9, Shen kept composure and adjusted to win a decisive 11-4 victory in the fourth game.
“Corey has a particular ability to keep a level head when an opponent starts crawling back on him. I’ve seen them outside of school in tournaments and also in a lot of the school matches. Last week he was down 2-0. He came back and won still. It shows you it’s never too late to figure out what you’re doing wrong, and there’s always a chance to fix it until the other person finishes off the game,” said Kozol.
Despite the strong win against Nobles, the team’s mental strength was tested in their doubleheader on Saturday. Despite its loss to Hotchkiss, Aaron Bai ’27 talked about how this loss was a reminder for the team to develop its skills and mentality.
Bai said, “We played our best and moving forward, we need to think more about our strategy. We just wanted to go all out and try our best. To fight back and I would say we did that pretty well. In the future, I’d say we’re gonna try harder and pull a victory. I think the more games we play, the better our mental is gonna be, and we need to keep working on our technique. Back foot, our footwork, shot placements, and to play smarter.”
Following the long weekend’s two trips and three matches, Andover battled St. Paul’s. Although Boys Squash won 5-2, the team should have been better mentally prepared.
“The team did what we needed to do. We won our match, which was ultimately the end goal. Though we did have a little bit of a problem where sometimes we underestimate opponents who aren’t as good as us, and as a result, we end up losing some focus during the match or we don’t go into it properly prepared. Even though we are better than our opponents, we let them get a game from us so what we need to be working on is to not take our opponents lightly and focus on every match,” said Shen.
Squash is the embodiment of adaptation and perseverance. That being said, Shen believes that although the team possesses strong fundamental skills, he believes everyone could improve by developing its decision making.
“It’s all about mental toughness for us. And we’ve been training so much, our practical, our technical skills are all very sound. We can hit whatever shot we want, we have a huge arsenal we can choose from. It’s just about choosing the right ones at the right times,” said Shen.
Shen added onto his other point regarding the mental aspect of squash and discussed how the team needs to adapt to pressure. Although each player has weekly challenge matches, to determine their seeds, the team should simulate more authentic match environments during practice.
“We don’t do enough of it. The only thing that comes close is when we play our challenge matches. I think that’s a lot of high pressure situations, even though we’re all teammates. But everyone’s trying to play higher up on the ladder, and so it brings a lot of pressure to each of the challenge matches. It’s good that we play a lot of challenge matches because it simulates what a real match would be like. I hope our players improve from them,” said Shen.
This Saturday, Boys Squash will attend the High School Nationals Tournament against Belmont Hill, Choate, and Westminster. On Wednesday, the team will go away and face Exeter.
