Boys Squash places 3rd at Hopkins Invitational

Lovejoy '16 Captures # 1 Singles Championship!
84 matches played today in the Kneisel Squash Center and here are the results and team standings:

1.  Squash Haven -- 59 points
2.  Millbrook -- 48 points
3.  Hopkins -- 41 points
4.  Kingswood-Oxford -- 38 points
5.  Suffield Academy (tie) -- 27  points
5.  Trinity-Pawling (tie) -- 27 points
7.  Williston-Northampton -- 15 points
8.  Canterbury -- 11 points

Finals results:

#1:  Spencer Lovejoy (Hop) def. Ziad Le Mandouh (T-P),  11/6, 12/14, 11/3.
#2:  Alex Wattles (Mill) def. Matt Lazor (K-O), 8/11, 11/8, 11/8.
#3:  Joby Jordan-Davis (SH) def. Ryan Westman (K-O), 11/7, 11/1.
#4:  Carmelo Reyes (SH) def. Matt Fiedler (Hop), 11/9, 11/5.
#5:  Joemar Aviles (SH) def. Ryan Albanesi (K-O), 11/9, 11/5.
#6:  Will Bliss (Mill) def. Laurent Briones (SH), 4/11, 11/7, 11/5.
#7:  Aaron Brevard (SH) def. Tyler Schmalz (Mill), 11/5, 11/5.

The first competition of the year for boys varsity squash at Hopkins
took place in the Kneisel Squash Center on the afternoon and evening
of Saturday, December 6.  The annual 8 team Hopkins Invitational
Squash Tournament took place, with the Squash Haven team taking first
place with 59 points, Millbrook School coming in second with 49
points, Hopkins finishing a very respectable third with 41 points,
followed closely by Kingswood-Oxford School with 38 points.

This proved to be an interesting test for Hopkins, which started three
of its seven players with little or no previous varsity experience.
Junior Will Simon played in the #7 singles flight for Hopkins, and won
his first match handily against an opponent from Kingswood-Oxford
School before bowing to a strong opponent from Millbrook School in the
semi-finals.  In the 3rd place playoff, Will played superbly against
Nick Randolph of Williston, coming through with a well deserved 11/3,
11/5 victory.

At #6 singles, Mike McCarthy found himself pitted against Andrew
Bortley of Canterbury and forged out a hard fought 11/9, 11/6 win.  In
Mike's semi-final match, he played some of his best squash but wound
up dropping an 11/5, 3/11, 11/7 contest to eventual winner Will Bliss
of Millbrook.  Then in the 3rd place playoff match, Mike again fought
very hard but lost an extremely close match to an equally determined
Chris Marcello of Kingswood-Oxford, 5/11, 11/7, 12/10.

Moving up to the #5 spot, quick footed Simon Doss-Gollin convincingly
won his first match against Loren Po of Williston, 11/1, 11/8, but
then dropped his semi-final contest to top seeded Joemar Aviles of
Squash Haven, 11/6, 11/6.  And in the 3rd place playoff contest, Simon
hustled to the best of his ability but dropped a close 11/7, 14/12
decision to an experienced player, Christian Arntzen from Millbrook.

Matt Fiedler at #4 singles came out strong, easily defeating an
opponent from Suffield Academy in his quarter final match.  Facing
varsity experienced Josh Pugliese of Kingswood-Oxford in the
semi-finals, Matt was able to carve out a very competitive 11/9, 11/6
win.  In the finals, Matt wound up dropping an equally competitive
contest with defending #4 singles champion from a year ago, Carmelo
Reyes of Squash Haven, 11/9, 11/5.

Co-captain and senior Alex Liu represented Hopkins at the #3 singles
position, and won his first match against Aaron Kan of Canterbury,
11/1, 11/7.  Then Alex found himself faced against Ryan Westman of
Kingswood-Oxford in the semi-finals.  Points were long and hard, but
in the end, Ryan held the upper hand with an 11/9, 11/7 victory over
Alex.  Alex also dropped his 3rd place playoff match to a very strong
opponent from Millbrook, 2 games to 0.

Ninth grader Gyan Maria represented Hopkins at the tough and
challenging #2 singles position, and had the misfortune to draw
eventual winner Alex Wattles of Millbrook in his first match, putting
Gyan into the consolation draw.  Gyan wasted no time in defeating Juan
Caldes of Canterbury, dominating in 11/8, 11/3 fashion.  In the 5th
place playoff match, Gyan found himself placed against nationally
ranked Brooks Doll of Trinity-Pawling and played his opponent point
for point, winding up coming just short in a thriller of a match,
6/11, 11/9, 11/9.

Co-captain and junior Spencer Lovejoy showed why he is one of the top
juniors in the country by easily dominating his first two
matches--against Kevin Li of Williston and Jeremy Carrasquillo of
Suffield--without the loss of a single game.  The finals proved to be
a rematch against Egyptian squash recruit Ziad El Mandouh of
Trinity-Pawling.  Play was indeed fast and furious, with blazing
drives and volleys down the wall being mingled with deft drop shots
and amazing gets from both players.  Spencer won the first game 11/6,
but then Ziad became increasingly determined to get himself back into
the match, eventually winning the second game 14/12 with points that
left the gallery spellbound by the amazing quality of play on the part
of both competitors.  In the final game, Spencer regained his touch on
his front court shots as well as deep down the wall forehand drives to
the back wall that died in that back corner, winning the final game
11/5 to become the tournament champion in the #1 singles flight.

The first dual meet contest of the season for the Hopkins varsity
comes up on the afternoon of Friday, December 12 against Rye High
School at the Kneisel Squash Center.  And this will be followed
shortly by an away match at Kent School the following afternoon.  The
early season preparation of playing in the Hopkins Invitational Squash
Tournament should prove to be a major boost to our team in these
upcoming two matches.

With best regards,

William L. Ewen
Teacher of mathematics, 1968--2008
Varsity boys tennis coach, 1968--2012
Junior varsity boys tennis coach, 2012--2014
Varsity boys squash coach, 2008--2012
Assistant varsity boys squash coach, 2012--2014

Special Thanks to coaches Bill Ewen, Sean Gibbon, Michael Gold and Richard Thornburgh for running a spectacular tournament!
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    • Lovejoy Singles Champion!

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Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.