The girls varsity squash team is off to a strong start with an overall record of 2-0. The team had their first play day scrimmage on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the WALKS Tournament where KO played against Westminster School, Suffield Academy, and Loomis Chaffee School.
Before the season officially started the team held captains’ practices on Sundays leading up to the season to get prepared for the long road ahead.
“So far, we have been working on getting back into the swing of things such as practice and games, and also getting used to a new coach,” senior Co-captain Ananya Alleyne said.
This year the team has a new head coach, English teacher Cameron Biondi who played club squash at Yale University. “Mr. Biondi has been a great addition to the team and has been helping us with drills to improve our game,” Alleyne said.
This year the team is going to attend the 2019 U.S. High School Team Squash Championships at Trinity College on Saturday, Feb. 2-3. “We played this tournament a couple years ago, and it was fun to see teams from all over the nation with a lot of talent,” Alleyne added.
At the play day, the Wyverns had a tough match against Westminster losing 5-2, but were able to come back to beat Suffield 6-1, the team had a very tough battle with Loomis, ultimately losing 4-3.
During the matches, senior Co-captain Cami Berckemeyer went undefeated for the day dropping zero games in her three matches at the number four spot. Junior Amelia Levine had a very close 1-1 deciding match in the number seven spot for KO against Loomis. Although Levine did not win in the end, she took the final game into extra points (12-10) and had a lot of support from her teammates.
At the number five spot, senior Claudia Petrie helped the team when she won two close matches against Suffield and Loomis. During the tournament, the matches were best of three, but during normal competition matches are usually best of five.
This year the Wyverns have three seniors on the team, and they are helping to bring the underclassmen together by leading the practices and drills and helping to organize team breakfasts and dinners.
“So far we have had one team breakfast, which is a great way for everybody to get to know each other a little better,” sophomore Sydney Smith said.
The team is looking forward to having a rematch against Loomis after the difficult 4-3 loss. “I have confidence that we will challenge Loomis again with our middle and bottom players winning their matches,” Coach Biondi said.
The team has a lot of potential this year. They are looking ahead to playing the Millbrook School on Jan. 5 and the Canterbury School on Jan. 9 at home.
