Boys Squash Bests Nobles

The small ball flies from one side of the court to the other. Senior and co-captain Ryan Xie whips his opponent until the Noble and Greenough player is left exhausted. Finally, he finishes him off in straight sets while the crowd behind him goes wild.This past Saturday, Big Red’s Boys’ Squash team traveled to Dedham, Massachusetts to take on the Nobels’ Bulldogs. Big Red had a rocky start after losing their first three matches, but the bottom four on varsity pulled through and sealed Big Red’s 4-3 win.“This match was really important because it [solidified] our Division Two seeding for High School Nationals,” prep Eric Zhang said.The match featured many impressive performances. Senior Nathan James shouted out his teammate, upper Alex Ranganathan, for showing his “tenacity and skill in his heroic comeback from 8-2 to 10-10. He showed great grit and a positive mentality on his way to a crucial 3-1 victory [that paved] the way to our team's eventual triumph.”Ranganathan had praise in turn. “[James was] put into a tough situation as he lined up against a Nobles player who described himself as someone who believed in ‘gym first, squash second,’” he said. “James was pushed around the court for much of the match as a result of the Nobles player’s supreme strength and power … [However, he] somehow found a way to use his superior tactics and brainpower to his advantage, skillfully and tactfully putting away his opponent.”Additionally, upper Cole Breen recognized his role model, Xie, for an “inspiring performance against Nobles.” “Ryan has been accumulating a lot of squash skills. This showed in his performance in his last match,” Breen said. “He displayed great skill with the racket, while he beat his opponent quite comfortably.”While there were many great performances, senior and co-captain Sam Lew was most proud of the way his team supported each other through the match. “Everyone put in a lot of effort and hard work. In the end, everyone contributed to the victory,” he said. “We were all there for each other, supporting and cheering.”Lew noted that the team’s strategy—capitalizing on its depth of talent—proved vital in earning their win. “This year, we have a pretty deep team that knows how to play to our strengths,” he said. “From three to seven, the skill level is very similar, and, instead of feeding the competitive nature of the ladder system, our team used that to our advantage and beat Nobles with the latter half of the ladder.”Lew hopes to continue this positive team dynamic when Andover comes to their home courts this Wednesday. “We are looking forward to giving a good fight. They have a good team, but I hope that we can stand together and continue to play hard no matter the score or rankings.”