Girls’ Squash Stays Positive After Loss
Last Saturday, the girls’ varsity squash team travelled to Massachusetts to face Deerfield Academy. Coming out of a tremendous win against the Middlesex School the past week, the girls went into the game with confidence, determined to prevail. Despite a valiant effort, Exeter lost to Deerfield with a score of 1-6.
Leading up to the game, the girls worked diligently. “We knew they were good, so we definitely practiced pretty hard this week,” upper Caroline Matule said.
Head coach Bruce Shang has been pushing the exceedingly athletic girls to the limits in preparation for Interschols. “We are doing a lot of new drills that involve more shots and patterns,” upper Ursula Sze said.
Throughout the grind in the week, Matule was able to wake the beast within her and rise up two spots the ladder after winning her challenge matches. “Caroline has been working really hard this week, and I really think she did a good job of stepping up,” Sze said.
Even though Big Red suffered a tough loss, each individual game was very close, which could have turned the tables onto Deerfield. “The team was supposed to be worse this year than it was last year, so all of our games were really competitive,” upper Maya Basak said.
Big Red’s number one seed, upper Euwie Park, was absent, causing the rest of the team to play one spot up on the ladder. Despite this challenge, many of the players stepped up and took charge. Senior and co-captain Katie Lee played a highly competitive match but ended up losing in the fifth round, with Exeter’s only win coming from prep Anne Brandes.
Sze took on the challenge of becoming Exeter’s number one seed. “The girl I played was not very good at movement but had amazing shots, so I constantly had to recover and chase after her shots” Sze noted. “It was a tough game for myself and the team. I feel like I could have won, which is disappointing.” Despite her tough loss, Sze remained enthusiastic and continued to keep the team’s spirits high like she has throughout the whole season. Matule said, “Ursula is always pretty spirited.”
Another player that was successful and displayed great leadership was upper Francie Treadwell. “Francie took the role of JV captain, and it was the first time she did that,” Matule said.
The team will host Interschols at Exeter over the weekend. The girls will push through all the discomfort that comes with being stunning squash players and work their hardest to get some great wins.