2017-2018 Squash Season Recap

2017-2018+Squash+Season+Recap

James Sikorovsky, Staff Writer

The University School Varsity Squash team concluded their season by going to the National Tournament held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The whole team performed really well at Nationals. Some standout players were Thomas Lipker and Jimmy Zhou, as they swept all of their matches. Another notable performer was Noah Fabec, in the last round of the tournament. “The whole team gathered around the court to cheer him on, and we all witnessed the gut-wrenching 5-gamer that ensued. After a brutal 30 minutes of squash, Noah emerged victorious and clenched a 6-1 victory for us,” said captain Tony Zhang. “I’d also like to point out that our substitute William Thomas did a tremendous job filling in for our 7th position after Gavin Tallal left with a 103 degree fever; he couldn’t have done any better, and I think we can expect great things from him in the future.”
Unfortunately, they lost in the first round against Tower Hill School 5-2. Tower Hill School went on to win the National tournament. That score is deceptive, though, because the team had 3 extremely close matches that went to 5 games. It could have gone either way; however, the Preppers fell short. Overall, the team performed really well, and if things went a little differently, they very well could have won the tournament.
Despite the loss at nationals, captain Tony Zhang called this season a success: “Overall, I think the season went great, everyone played really well and I think every member of the team improved drastically from the beginning of the season. Though we didn’t have the best of luck with nationals, I don’t think that really defined our season this year. What I think is more important is the growth that the team experienced, as by the end of the season, other than Nationals, we were nearly undefeated in our matches. We crushed longtime rivals and performed extremely well with other teams. If the team continues on this trajectory for the next couple years, I believe that we could become an intimidating team to all of our opponents. ”
The team will be graduating 4 seniors—their top four guys. Next year, it may be tough for the younger members of the team as they have positions to fill. But Zhang believes there is potential in the team for years to come: “I’d like to point out the potential of freshman Jimmy Zhou as he still has 3 years to develop and improve his squash. I think that although none of our current top four players are going to be there next year, we have enough potential in our younger players to fill in the gaps.” Next year, look for Junior Kyle Llinas and Jimmy Zhou to lead the team, as they will be the top players on next year’s team.