After many long points, Co-Captain Michael Huang ’15 scored the winning point with a well-executed drop shot, clinching the 2014 Division Three High School National Squash Championship for Andover.
Andover’s fourth consecutive victory—4-3 over Friends School—followed a 5-2 win against Blair, a 4-3 win against St. Georges and a 4-3 semifinal win against New Canaan High. The team overcame multiple injuries, six consecutive previous regular season losses, and placing eighth seed out of sixteen teams in division three.
“Our team was extremely motivated to prove ourselves at Nationals. We felt that our previous record was not indicative of our talent, and wanted to show others what we were capable of. As the eighth seed in the tournament, no one was expecting us to win, but in the tournament we played our best squash all season, and took home the hardware,” said Justin Curtis ’15.
Curtis, the only player to win all four of his matches, secured a particularly crucial win in the match against New Canaan High. Down 6-1 in the fifth game, Curtis decreased the point deficit and came out on top to win 11-9.
Andover’s victory over Blair bumped the team to play St. George’s, the number one team in the division.
“As the alluring national title came closer and closer to our grasp, we were increasingly motivated to reach that goal and both our level or play and mentality improved with each game,” said Rem Remmel ’14.
Although the team struggled at the top of the ladder, with losses from Huang and Co-Captain Jack Wain ’14, the bottom of the ladder took advantage of St. George’s lack of depth and won every match besides one.
“Going into the tournament we were definitely a dark horse, but by the end we had proved ourselves both to our opponents and ourselves and showed what this team is capable of,” said Jack Quamme ‘16.
After the three wins, the team advanced to the finals. Both Huang and Co-Captain Jack Wain ’14, at the one and two positions, won their individual matches 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.
“[Wain] and [Huang] both did a really good job leading the team and keeping us focused and working hard. They both really inspired all of us to do our best and the group as a whole is something special,” said Quamme.
Both Quamme and Josh Kim ’15 lost 3-2, the only losses for both these players this weekend. Jake Rauh ’14 lost in three games, and Remmel won in four.
With upcoming matches against Exeter and Concord Academy and Interschols to end the season, the team intends to continuing its improved level of play.
