A motivated thirds squash squad hit the road early Wednesday afternoon for a rematch with the Brookies. Having suffered a crushing defeat to them in our season debut, we expected a slate of tough matches, but we were optimistic after a solid three weeks of practice. After a long warmup, we sent out our even-numbered players and hoped for the best.
From the beginning, it appeared that we were destined for a very different result from last time. Justin and Tommy both squeaked out overtime wins in their first game, while Ethan kept it close as he got acclimated to “the icebox.” As the battles raged on the exhibition courts, Justin found a little more breathing room, and finished the job in three games to put our first point on the board.
Ethan caught fire following his first-game defeat, reeling off three games in a row to put us up 2-0. While Max got things going, Tommy was locked in battle against a small but skilled opponent, trading the first four games. After rolling his ankle at 8-5 in the fifth, Tommy did his best to ignore the pain, gutting out an 11-6 win and putting us one match from the clinch – which Max was happy to provide, overcoming a 2-1 deficit with 11-9 and 11-3 wins in his last two games.
With the score at 4-0, there was still a lot of squash to be played: Matthew, making his career debut, dropped the first two games before roaring back with 11-9, 11-6, and 11-9 wins to keep us undefeated. As Jack, our ace for the day, overcame a tough second game to win in four, Alex Kaminsky finished things off for a 7-0 team win.
The exhibition crew fought hard with mixed results: Jonny battled back from 2-0 down to force a fifth, Alex turned a 2-1 deficit into a five-game win, and Elliott’s serves occasionally broke the sound barrier as he notched a win as well – the others will “get ’em next time.”
The team plays Westy at home this Saturday.
Deerfield 7, Eaglebrook 0
Jack Lund won in 4
Tommy Gilmore won in 5
Max Bronckers won in 5
Justin Lui won in 3
Matthew Wuyan won in 5
Ethan Kelly won in 4
Alex Kaminsky won
Jonny Glinton lost in 5
Joseph Mollo lost in 4
Alex Smith won in 5
Matt Wierzbicki lost in 3
Elliott Flagg won in 4
Protik Nandy lost in 3
David Chen lost in 3