Hopkins Girls Lose Tri-Match to Miss Porter’s and Berkshire

Saturday 11 December, Hopkins girls squash travelled to Miss Porter’s for a tri-match with that home school and Berkshire School. Two top Hopkins players could not attend, so the ladder stepped up multiple notches and played excellent matches. Kate Bradley played her first ranked matches. Despite the fact that her opponents were much more experienced, Kate was a formidable player who covered the court with impressive athleticism and moved her opponent with well-considered shots. Putting on her game face, Amy Wang led the score in both of her matches and attacked with wise drives but ended up being beaten in both matches. Ariela Martin and Shelby Galvin played extremely well by placing their drives deep in the corners and delivering some zingers that their competitors could not retrieve, a combination that won games and boosted scores. Even though Anna Smilow faced an amazingly skilled MPS squashlete and a relentless Berkshire retriever, she used her smart squash skills to exhaust her competitors and squeeze out points. Kristin Manley played hard as always, prancing like a tiger, and discovering the benefits of deep, firm drives, coming back powerfully in her later games.

The entire team succeeded today. The girls played wisely and competitively, and they adjusted their games as the matches and points grew longer.  Also impressive was the comparison to the previous match, with St. Luke’s – the back court game that was so troubling then was a secondary issue today – great improvement.