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Female Hilltoppers Hustle to Historic First!
On Saturday, January 24, the developing and improving varsity girls squash team ventured up to West Hartford to take on the Kingswood--Oxford junior varsity girls team. One significant problem facing our team was the fact that we were missing our #2, #3 , and #5 players, meaning that lower ranked players would have to step up to the plate if the Hopkins girls squash team was going to make history today by winning an interscholastic dual meet for the first time. The Kingswood--Oxford team has its own squash facility, with four courts of their own, putting their team at a distinct advantage.
Coach Ewen remarked to his players, upon watching the K--O team warm up, that the skill levels of the two teams seemed very comparable, and stressed the dual importance of maintaining good depth and keeping ones poise and perseverance throughout what promised to be a very close match--as he said, a winnable or a losable match. And a very close match it turned out to be!
Our #2 player, sophomore and tennis star Meg Crampton, got Hopkins off to a solid start with stellar serving when it counted, winning 3 close games, 11/8, 11/9, 11/9. Next, Helen Xu at #6 fought gamely but was overcome by rather similar scores by the strong depth of her K--O opponent, 11/8, 11/4, 11/9. Then, in what turned out to be a crucial match, Jess Cohen at #4 combined a lot of hustle with the ability to stay out front (driving her opponent to the back corners), and won convincingly in the 3rd game, 11/7, 11/9, and 11/6. This put Hopkins ahead 2--1 with four matches left to play.
Alice Bradley at #5 kept at it but wound up being overcome by her opponent's harder hitting style, losing 3--0. But this loss was balanced by sophomore standout Shelby Galvin at #3, who combined good athleticism with hard drives with depth in a hard fought victory, 11/8, 9/11. 11/4, 11/0. Squash newcomer Tiffany Chen played remarkably in her first interscholastic squash match, but eventually losing to a player with a stronger serve at #7 in five tough games, 11/3, 8/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/5.
So now the match was knotted at a 3--3 score. Whichever player won the #1 singles match would wind up winning the match for her team. Team captain Alana Friedlander faced Kingswood--Oxford's #1, Erin Casey. The match see-sawed back and forth, with one player gaining an advantage by better depth for a while, and then the situation would be reversed. Neither player could seem to win two games in a row--so it came down to 2 games apiece. One final game would be played for the team victory. Alana, who had lost the fourth game by a disappointing 5/11 score, came back into the court for the fifth game with her poise and perseverance intact, promptly got out to a 5/1 lead, and never looked back, coming through with a hard fought but well earned victory, 11/4 in the final game.
Coach Ewen was also pleased by the energetic and enthusiastic play play of sophomores Lexi Harrison and Joanie Margolis, who took the time and trouble to travel with the Hopkins team today and who each gained valuable experience by participating in two exhibition matches apiece
Heartfelt congratulations are due to Captain Alana Friedlander and the Hopkins girls' varsity squash team on their historic 4--3 victory!
On Saturday, January 24, the developing and improving varsity girls squash team ventured up to West Hartford to take on the Kingswood--Oxford junior varsity girls team. One significant problem facing our team was the fact that we were missing our #2, #3 , and #5 players, meaning that lower ranked players would have to step up to the plate if the Hopkins girls squash team was going to make history today by winning an interscholastic dual meet for the first time. The Kingswood--Oxford team has its own squash facility, with four courts of their own, putting their team at a distinct advantage.
Coach Ewen remarked to his players, upon watching the K--O team warm up, that the skill levels of the two teams seemed very comparable, and stressed the dual importance of maintaining good depth and keeping ones poise and perseverance throughout what promised to be a very close match--as he said, a winnable or a losable match. And a very close match it turned out to be!
Our #2 player, sophomore and tennis star Meg Crampton, got Hopkins off to a solid start with stellar serving when it counted, winning 3 close games, 11/8, 11/9, 11/9. Next, Helen Xu at #6 fought gamely but was overcome by rather similar scores by the strong depth of her K--O opponent, 11/8, 11/4, 11/9. Then, in what turned out to be a crucial match, Jess Cohen at #4 combined a lot of hustle with the ability to stay out front (driving her opponent to the back corners), and won convincingly in the 3rd game, 11/7, 11/9, and 11/6. This put Hopkins ahead 2--1 with four matches left to play.
Alice Bradley at #5 kept at it but wound up being overcome by her opponent's harder hitting style, losing 3--0. But this loss was balanced by sophomore standout Shelby Galvin at #3, who combined good athleticism with hard drives with depth in a hard fought victory, 11/8, 9/11. 11/4, 11/0. Squash newcomer Tiffany Chen played remarkably in her first interscholastic squash match, but eventually losing to a player with a stronger serve at #7 in five tough games, 11/3, 8/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/5.
So now the match was knotted at a 3--3 score. Whichever player won the #1 singles match would wind up winning the match for her team. Team captain Alana Friedlander faced Kingswood--Oxford's #1, Erin Casey. The match see-sawed back and forth, with one player gaining an advantage by better depth for a while, and then the situation would be reversed. Neither player could seem to win two games in a row--so it came down to 2 games apiece. One final game would be played for the team victory. Alana, who had lost the fourth game by a disappointing 5/11 score, came back into the court for the fifth game with her poise and perseverance intact, promptly got out to a 5/1 lead, and never looked back, coming through with a hard fought but well earned victory, 11/4 in the final game.
Coach Ewen was also pleased by the energetic and enthusiastic play play of sophomores Lexi Harrison and Joanie Margolis, who took the time and trouble to travel with the Hopkins team today and who each gained valuable experience by participating in two exhibition matches apiece
Heartfelt congratulations are due to Captain Alana Friedlander and the Hopkins girls' varsity squash team on their historic 4--3 victory!
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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.
