Boys Squash Class C Runners-Up

    On Saturday, February 26, the Hopkins boys' squash team traveled the height of the state of Connecticut on Interstate 91 to participate in the New England Prep School "C" Team Championships, boasting only an overall 4--10 record entering the tournament.  But the Hopkins players were convinced and excited about the opportunity to see how much they had improved against teams who had bested Hopkins during the regular season.  Specifically, Hopkins set its radar on Millbrook School, which had finished ahead of Hopkins in the Hopkins Invitational Tournament in five out of seven of the draw categories, and on Suffield Academy, which had defeated Hopkins 4--3 in a dual meet.  The last minute addition of Avon Old Farms, which had defeated Hopkins 6--1 in a dual meet,  into the "C" draw dramatically changed the complexion of the tournament, as they were prohibitive favorites to run away with the event.

    First round play saw victories by #1 TJ Dembinski, #2 and seventh grader Spencer Lovejoy, #3 Doug Schaffer, #4 Jack McLean, and #7 Matt Hodel.  Of particular note was the courageous and persevering victory by Doug Schaffer, who battled back from two games down against a quick and smart Robbie Fischer from Moses Brown school to prevail, 11/13, 10/12, 11/6, 18/16, 11/3, in what was probably the most exciting and seesaw match of the whole tournament.  But after Doug prevailed in the nip and tuck fourth game, he was able to turn up the pressure to win the fifth game going away.  Our #5 player Griffin Smilow drew the #2 seed (and eventual winner) from Avon in the first round and lost in three games, as did #6 Steve Falcigno, who put up a spirited fight against the #1 seed in his division from Millbrook School.  Avon Old Farms led the way by placing six of its seven players into the main bracket semi-finals.

    The semi-final main draw action saw Hopkins victories by #1 TJ Dembinski 3--0, a strong win at #2 by Spencer Lovejoy over a talented eleventh grade opponent (Felix Pantle) from Millbrook, and some inspired play by #7 Matt Hodel in coming back from one game down by maintaining both good depth and great hustle.  Our #3 player, Doug Schaffer, hustled hard against his Avon opponent but eventually wore down, 11/9, 12/10, 11/4.  At the #4 position, Jack McLean battled courageously against Avon's seeded player, Jeremy Ross, and eventually fell prey to Jeremy's drop volleys when Jack failed to get his cross- court drives wide enough.  In the consolation rounds, Steve Falcigno won his next match by an impressive 3--0 margin despite not feeling well.  Then Griffin Smilow, also playing in the consolation rounds, wound up playing rival player Munir Quaddorah from Greens Farms Academy.  In the dual meet played in mid-December, Griffin had prevailed by the narrowest of margins (15--13 in the fifth game).  The match today proved to be another barn-burner, with Griffin using his good depth with occasional corner shots, eventually to prevail, this time 11/7 in the fifth and final game of the match.

    This brought everyone to the third and final round of the tournament.  Players were tired by this point in time from intense play in the earlier rounds.  One of the gutsiest performances from a Hopkins player came from co-captain Steve Falcigno against a deceptively clever player named Matt Dwyer from Wheeler.
Steve was feeling nauseous throughout the match, and came from two games down, to will his way to win the 5th place consolation draw title by the seesaw margin of 11/6, 12/14, 10/12, 11/5, 11/6.  Doug Schaffer defeated his opponent from Greens Farms Academy to finish in his division in 3rd place, but Jack McLean fell short in three hard fought games to finish in 4th place in his division.  Then, in the main draw finals, Matt Hodel found himself against Suffield's Joe Palomba.  Though Matt hustled around the court making great gets and endeavoring to drive the ball deep, he proved to be no match for Palomba's accurate drives down the wall and succumbed in three straight games.  

    But then Hopkins saved the best for last.  In what proved to be a pivotal match for team standings, Spencer Lovejoy came through from one game down in the #2 singles bracket, defeating Avon's hard hitting Santiago Moran, 7/11, 11/2, 11/4, 11/5, with consistent good depth and excellent patience, thus giving Spencer the sought after #2 singles title.  And star player TJ Dembinski wasted no time in defeating a game but outmatched opponent from Moses Brown School, using blistering drives to keep his opponent in the back corners and emerge victorious in the #1 singles final, 11/8, 11/6, 11/4.  

    The suspense mounted as the team scores were being tabulated.  When the final results eventually did come out, Hopkins found itself in second place overall in the team standings.  This was a huge accomplishment for a team which boasted three sophomores, one seventh grader, and one ninth grader in our top five players.  The team deeply appreciated the motivational talk by retired New Haven Firefighter Kevin Delaney, who survived an accident when hitting a suddenly turning automobile while riding on a motorcycle, and spoke to the team on Friday on how he drew from his experience learning qualities of patience and perseverance on the squash court, to help him eventually overcome his many physical injuries and traumatic issues which followed his accident.  

    The final team results were:  Avon Old Farms, 52  ; Hopkins School, 45 ; Millbrook, 43, Suffield, 36 ; Greens Farms Academy, 23, Moses Brown School, 28, 
Wheeler, 23 ; and Williams, 8.  These are results that our Hopkins players will remember for a lifetime.  Coach Ewen stated, "Our young team has gone about improving our proficiency in squash as the season has progressed.  I am as proud of this team and what they have been able to accomplish, in spite of their relative youthful inexperience.  Every player contributed to the overall team score, and every player helped to support their teammates when they were not on the court themselves.  Congratulations on a spectacular finish to our boys varsity 2010--2011 squash season!  Having the team perform so well in the New England tournament proved to be well worth the cost in terms of energy, time, and stamina.  The team celebrated its strong showing with a stop on the way back at Modern Pizza in New Haven!   


With best regards,

William L. Ewen