Avery Liu ‘25
Feb 2, 2024
Blue Storm boys and girls squash teams are heating up this season. With some tough losses and big wins, both teams are fighting to end the season strong.
Before winter break, the boys and girls teams faced The Episcopal Academy ending in a loss for both. Mogere Nyakoe ‘25 said, “We did lose the beginning principal matches, but they were against a really good school. But our team has a really good mix of people and we’re [feeling] pretty good going into the next games.”
Following the match, the teams competed in the 51st year of Mercersburg’s Flanagan Invitational with the girls team placing fourth out of six schools and the boys securing a few wins of their own.
Since winter break, both teams have defeated The Potomac School and Nichols School. The girls later faced Agnes Irwin but came out short of a strong squad. Ana Botello Gaytan ‘25 said, “The girls have been great…and even though we lost some games, I think they did the best they could.”
Following these tough matches, the girls secured a win over National Cathedral School, and the boys defeated Woodberry Forest School.
To prepare for their MAPL matches against Blair Academy and The Hill School, the teams kept up their hard work at practice without any changes to their routine. Head coach Dominic Benacquista said, “Practices are just very basic you know. We're looking to do fundamentals like what things give us the most chance of winning. You know there’s nothing special about how we prepare for Blair and Hill.”
The team remains optimistic and supportive of each other when facing tough opponents. Huzaifa Ibrahim ‘24 said, “This year we have good communication with each other…We have a lot of freshmen this year so as top players we support [them].”
With the arrival of several new players, the team’s dynamic has shifted to focus more on growth than record. Benacqista said, “Well, [the team is] weaker. We have way more developmental players within the team and a lot of new players that have never played before.”
Additionally, both squash teams faced tough opponents without key players. Ibrahim said, “The first half of the season we didn’t have the full team, and I wasn’t playing because of some tournaments.” Nyakoye added, “We’ve played against some pretty hard people. But we got through it.”
In their match against The Hill School, both teams came out victorious with the girls team winning 9-0 and the boys 6-3. Following these matches, both teams fought to success against rival Blair Academy: the girls 5-4 and the boys 6-3. A harmony of top performances by seasoned senior players and new players like William Luo ‘27 gave both teams victories to bring back home.
The teams aren’t stopping here and they have ambitious goals for the future. Benacquista said, “I think the longer the season goes on, the better we’ve been overall, especially for the more developmental players we have.”
With MASO, MAPL, and Nationals coming up, the teams have a lot to work for. Ibrahim said, “[At Nationals], we aim to finish top 10, and we are pretty confident.”