Girls’ Squash Overcomes Woes, Places 1st at Nationals

Snapping a five-match losing streak, Exeter girls’ squash won the Division III bracket of the US High School Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. this past weekend, marking the first time in recent history that Exeter has won this esteemed event. This national competition gathers squash teams from across the country to participate in a weekend of matches that ultimately end in a champion from each division. Because of Exeter’s record and schedule difficulty, Exeter was given a high seeding in the Division III bracket and proceeded to win four matches in a row to be crowned champions.“It was an amazing experience playing at nationals. It was fun to see so many players from all over the nation. I gained a lot of experience in squash game strategies after playing four different players in such a short time,” upper Dana Tung said. Seniors Madge Tan and Grace Song, uppers Tung and Lizzie Wei, lowers Alix Hunter and Taylor Jean-Jacque, and prep Serena Cho travelled to the event.On Saturday in Philadelphia, the team matched up against Riverdale, Rye Country Day and Westover, three teams they do not play in the regular season, and won their matches 7-0, 6-1 and 5-2 respectively. These teams, which came from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut respectively, were no match for Exeter's skilled players and seasoned veterans. Exeter’s first real test of the weekend came on Sunday, when they faced St. George’s, a team they had beaten 6-1 earlier in the season. St. George’s was ready for Exeter though, and the match was not a decisive victory like it was early in the season. Exeter did not secure a victory until Tung beat her opponent after being down 2-0."The match that really pulled through for us was Dana Tung’s; she was down two-love and then pulled through to win the next three. All these people were watching and making noise—it was really exciting,” Tan said.Describing the match, Tung said, “I played five very tight games in my finals match. I was down by two games in the beginning, but after all the coaching and cheering from my teammates and coaches, I calmed myself down and aimed to win one point at a time. Eventually the points added up and I won 3-2. From that match, I learned the importance of mental game in squash. I'm really lucky to have such supportive teammates who always cheer for me and give me good strategy advices during my matches."Yesterday Exeter continued in their winning ways with a decisive 5-2 victory over Middlesex. With the two matches before Andover, let’s hope the team can keep up their streak.