Girls' Squash Continues On, Goal in Sight

Girls’ squash fought hard against Andover this Saturday, but unfortunately, the team fell to Big Blue. Despite this week’s loss, the team still has their Exeter/Andover match at the end of the season to work towards. Hopefully, Big Red will be at their strongest and ready to win.Andover has always had a really strong team, the last time Exeter had defeated their team was during the 2008-2009 squash season.This Saturday was no exception; they proved to be tough opponents for the girls.Still, everyone’s determination to play well showed through their performance. “It was tough, Andover is a pretty strong team,” said senior captain Madge Tan. “Overall, it was a fun experience, and because of the rivalry there was a lot of positive and competitive energy.”“Andover only graduated one senior last year, so they are both a strong and confident team,” said captain Elle MacAlpine. “They hit with quite a bit of pace, but I believe that by the time we play them again at the end of the season, we will have a much closer match, and hopefully win!”The girls on the team conclude that the one quality that eludes them is mental fortitude. Their lack of solidarity prevents them from entering their matches optimistically, as they feel their opponents will be better. “The matches should have been closer than they were. Andover is still a really good team, but I think everyone just psyches themselves out. Everyone was a bit nervous and that’s something we need to work on,” said Tan. The girls have already developed a high level of skill on court; the next step will be to incorporate unfaltering faith in their preparation.“We really need to work on our mental game, strategizing and being more mentally tough than our opponents,” said lower Taylor Jean-Jacques, agreeing with Tan, “Also, we are going to need to work on our serves, sometimes we hit a lot of serves out and lose points.” Upper Lizzie Wei added that strategy and movement is a key tactic the girls need to focus on for their matches to come. “We should practice ghosting more on the court and watching our opponents so we don’t end up feeding them shots during our matches.”“If we focus, there is always a chance that we can win against any school,” concluded Wei. Girls’ squash will be playing against Noble and Greenough this Saturday, looking forward to their continual progress.