Stephanie Marton ’07 pulled out an unlikely ninth place finish at the season-ending Interscholastic Tournament this weekend, boosting the Andover Girls Squash team to a twelfth place overall finish. One of sixteen teams competing in the A Division on Exeter’s courts, Andover saw the outcome as a victory of sorts. “We did as well as we could have,” said Coach Tom Hodgson. The tournament combined individual and team competition. Each of the seven players from a given school was entered into her own bracket, which corresponded to her position on the ladder. After competing, each player received a final individual ranking, which contributed to the team’s overall position. To determine a team’s status, the rankings of all its players’ were taken into account. Thus, the team with the best combined final ranking finished in first place. None of Andover’s players were seeded in an individual flight. But Captain Ali Zindman ’07 was placed, which exempted her from playing a seed in the first round. Capitalizing on this advantage, she won her first match against a Deerfield player. She was not as successful in the second round, however, where she lost 3-0 to the eventual champion. She ended up in a match against a Nobles player to determine seventh place. Captain Zindman lost 3-2 in this match and finished eighth overall. Despite the loss, it was an improvement from earlier in the season, when she was swept 3-0 by the same person. Captain Zindman’s result was the squad’s best. Diana Willson ’07 came in fifteenth place in the number two draw. After playing several matches, she finished with a four-game win over a Rye Country Day opponent. “[Willson] was exhausted for her final match. But her fourth game was one of the best I’ve seen anyone play this season,” said Coach Hodgson. In the number three division, Pawina Jiramongkolchai ’06 also finished fifteenth. Carolyn Brown ’09 registered a strong performance at number four and placed tenth. She lost to a tough Choate opponent in the first round by a score of 3-0. But Brown was resilient, next notching a win over a Loomis adversary. In her final match, she lost in five games to a player from Nobles. Lydia Smith ’09 finished eleventh in the number five bracket and played a decisive role in determining Andover’s final ranking. She lost twice and won once before her final match against a Hotchkiss opponent, which she won in four games. “This win [against Hotchkiss] was important because we ended up barely edging out Hotchkiss for twelfth place [in the team competition],” said Coach Hodgson. Lucretia Witte ’06 rode her powerful serve to a thirteenth place finish. She lost to Hotchkiss in the first round but later beat Deerfield. Like Smith’s win over Hotchkiss, this victory was important for Andover because the team also finished narrowly ahead of Deerfield. Stephanie Marton ’07 posted Andover’s second-best personal performance, finishing ninth overall. She got her day off to a rocky start with a 3-0 loss to a Hotchkiss competitor. “She lost to a girl she might have beaten [on another day]. But she was nervous. It was her first tournament,” said Coach Hodgson. Marton rebounded nicely, however, and ended up a consolation winner, grabbing victories over players from Deerfield, Choate, and Taft. Her result was especially gratifying because Andover entered the season fearing a lack of depth in its lineup.
