Andover – 6 Westminster – 1
Andover – 7 Exeter – 0
Last Saturday, Andover Boys Squash (11-1) faced off against Westminster and took a clear win bouncing back from the loss against Hotchkiss. Following its win, Andover had a shutout against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter).
After the campus-wide influenza outbreak, the team had to adjust their practicing schedule. Will Weissman ’25 elaborated on the team’s strategy as they prepared for their match against Westminster, aiming for quick wins.
“Even though we had a long weekend, we still made sure to get a little training in the day before. We tried to get some [wins] off the board, get our mind right… Take them out as quickly as we can, no messing around,” said Weissman.
Weissman continued, highlighting Ali Gamal ’26’s display of resilience in his performance coming back from a losing match.
“[In] Ali Gamal’s match, he went down in the match 1-0, but then he came back. He was able to persevere and push through and focus on winning in the next three games,” said Weissman.
Andover Boys Squash not only secured the win against Westminster, but the boys also sweeped long-time rival Exeter, 7-0.
Richard Lau ’24 recalled the team’s training session throughout the week to ensure the win against Exeter. With the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) approaching, every win is integral to placing high in the Class A Championships.
“We worked really hard prior to this match. Throughout the week we did challenge matches and trained really hard. I think the matches before this prepared us really well… It’s a great rival team. It is always a big match against Exeter no matter the score,” said Lau.
Co-Captain Christian Graziano ’25 shared similar sentiments to Lau, highlighting the Andover/Exeter rivalry. Graziano elaborated on the team’s mindset ahead of the larger upcoming tournaments.
“Exeter is our biggest rival so we had to bring it our all, which we did. We never let them think they had a chance… We just go out there and play hard, play strong. I think we just keep our mind set on our goals and move forward,” said Graziano.
In preparation for NEPSAC and Nationals, Lau noted the importance of preparing the team for more endurance-based matches as the players come into harder matches.
“We should just keep playing the way we did, hitting the ball deep. We are going to have some tougher matches coming up, so we have to prepare for some five-game matches, not just expecting to win 3-0,” said Lau.
With continued team effort, Andover hopes to make history by placing in the top eight for the first time at Nationals. For the upcoming matches, Weissman elaborated on Lau’s point, emphasizing on focusing athleticism against difficult matchups to come.
“We are going to focus on fitness a lot for the next ten games. So we have two weeks before NEPSACs and we [have] Nationals the week after so we are kind of trying to work on our fitness and prepare for that… We are looking forward to NEPSACs and we are ready to make history at Nationals,” said Weissman.
Andover Boys Squash will play this upcoming Tuesday at home against St. Paul’s.
