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GFA
On the afternoon of Wednesday, December 17, the Hopkins boys varsity
squash team returned to their home courts to take on their
counterparts from Greens Farms Academy in Westport. As is normally
the case, the #2, #4, & #6 matches competed in the first round. The
beginning of this match was not too auspicious for Hopkins; in the
first two games, senior co-captain Alex Liu at #2 found himself down,
two games to none, as did Hopkins' Mike McCarthy at #6 singles.
Meanwhile, at #4 singles, Hopkins sophomore Matt Fiedler won the first
game handily (11/1) but just held on to win game number two by an 11/9
score. Fortunately for Hopkins, Matt regained good control of his
match by combining good depth with hard low drives, both down the wall
and cross-court, to win game number three and the match, 11/6. But
GFA's #2 player, Luiz Voldman, did a good job of holding the front
position against Alex Liu and emerged triumphant, 11/9, 12/10, 11/7,
in a hard fought match. And at #6 singles, aided by a surprising
number of service faults from his GFA opponent, Michael McCarthy
persistently fought back from behind to overtake GFA's Alexander
Necakov, 8/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/6, in what proved to be the
closest match of the afternoon. As the match progressed, Michael
improved his footwork and racquet preparation to good advantage.
So now the match moved on to the #1, #3, and #5 contests. Of this
group, #5 player for Hopkins Will McLean wound up finishing first
chronologically, with a convincing 11/7, 11/1, 5/11, 11/8 victory over
GFA's Colin Hughes. Will struck the ball well, combining deep ground
strokes to his opponent's back corners with nicely placed straight
wall drop shots to keep his opponent on the run. Then #1 standout
Spencer Lovejoy clinched the match with a dominating 11/2, 11/4, 11/6
final score over a game but overmatched Scott Brown. At #3 singles,
Hopkins freshman Gyan Maria scraped out a tight victory against Rui
Aquiar, 10/12, 12/10, 12/10, 11/9, in a match in which neither player
performed up to his full potential. The final match of the day
featured #7 Hopkins singles player Will Simon against hard hitting and
left handed Jack Soper of Greens Farms Academy. Jack had a strong
forehand reverse corner which Will had trouble running down, and the
two players split the first two games. As the match progressed, Will
began to anticipate his opponent's shots more accurately, and he also
played his shots more down the right hand side of the court deep to
his opponent's somewhat weaker backhand, and was ultimately rewarded
with a hard fought 11/6, 8/11, 11/9, 11/5 conquest.
The Hopkins team will now get a two week rest over the Christmas and
New Years holidays before resuming their next match against the always
powerful and consistent team from Choate on Wednesday, January 7,
2015.
Back
squash team returned to their home courts to take on their
counterparts from Greens Farms Academy in Westport. As is normally
the case, the #2, #4, & #6 matches competed in the first round. The
beginning of this match was not too auspicious for Hopkins; in the
first two games, senior co-captain Alex Liu at #2 found himself down,
two games to none, as did Hopkins' Mike McCarthy at #6 singles.
Meanwhile, at #4 singles, Hopkins sophomore Matt Fiedler won the first
game handily (11/1) but just held on to win game number two by an 11/9
score. Fortunately for Hopkins, Matt regained good control of his
match by combining good depth with hard low drives, both down the wall
and cross-court, to win game number three and the match, 11/6. But
GFA's #2 player, Luiz Voldman, did a good job of holding the front
position against Alex Liu and emerged triumphant, 11/9, 12/10, 11/7,
in a hard fought match. And at #6 singles, aided by a surprising
number of service faults from his GFA opponent, Michael McCarthy
persistently fought back from behind to overtake GFA's Alexander
Necakov, 8/11, 9/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/6, in what proved to be the
closest match of the afternoon. As the match progressed, Michael
improved his footwork and racquet preparation to good advantage.
So now the match moved on to the #1, #3, and #5 contests. Of this
group, #5 player for Hopkins Will McLean wound up finishing first
chronologically, with a convincing 11/7, 11/1, 5/11, 11/8 victory over
GFA's Colin Hughes. Will struck the ball well, combining deep ground
strokes to his opponent's back corners with nicely placed straight
wall drop shots to keep his opponent on the run. Then #1 standout
Spencer Lovejoy clinched the match with a dominating 11/2, 11/4, 11/6
final score over a game but overmatched Scott Brown. At #3 singles,
Hopkins freshman Gyan Maria scraped out a tight victory against Rui
Aquiar, 10/12, 12/10, 12/10, 11/9, in a match in which neither player
performed up to his full potential. The final match of the day
featured #7 Hopkins singles player Will Simon against hard hitting and
left handed Jack Soper of Greens Farms Academy. Jack had a strong
forehand reverse corner which Will had trouble running down, and the
two players split the first two games. As the match progressed, Will
began to anticipate his opponent's shots more accurately, and he also
played his shots more down the right hand side of the court deep to
his opponent's somewhat weaker backhand, and was ultimately rewarded
with a hard fought 11/6, 8/11, 11/9, 11/5 conquest.
The Hopkins team will now get a two week rest over the Christmas and
New Years holidays before resuming their next match against the always
powerful and consistent team from Choate on Wednesday, January 7,
2015.
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Best Day School
in CT, 2024
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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.
