In her final year on the girls varsity squash team, senior Captain Annabelle Jacobs has been a motivating leader on the team and has made a tremendous impact on the court.
When Jacobs began playing squash her freshman year, she fell in love with it due to her competitive nature. Jacobs played her first two years on the JV team and has spent her junior and senior years on the varsity team. This year, she was named captain and has embraced this important role in leading a young team.
Over the past four years, Head Coach Cameron Biondi has seen the work that Jacobs has put in pay off on the court. He credits her for the time she has spent improving her footwork and strategy. “She’s very fast and covers the court really well, so she catches people off guard,” he said.
Coach Biondi also commends Jacobs for being coachable. “She’s really interested in getting feedback,” he said. Squash matches are played in a best-of-five format, allowing for coaches to talk with players in between each game. Coach Biondi applauded her eagerness to learn how she can get better even during the game, a quality he says is rare to find in players.
As captain, Jacobs has started a new tradition on the squash team known as “Fun Fridays.” Each “Fun Friday” has a different theme, and the team dresses up and brings in snacks to celebrate. “I want to make sure everyone has fun because squash can be a very competitive sport,” Jacobs said. “I want to make sure the team is there to support everyone and remind the team that we’re all doing this for fun at the end of the day.”
Junior Avery Hersh has appreciated Jacobs’ enthusiasm and thoughtfulness in designing practices. “Fun Fridays have made squash practices so fun this year,” Hersh said. “Annabelle has come up with a different theme each week and it’s been fun to see everyone’s outfits they come up with.”
Coach Biondi agreed, praising Jacobs’ leadership abilities. “She’s a great leader, but she does it in a very unassuming way and makes everyone more comfortable at practice,” he said.
This season, Jacobs hopes her initiatives will bring the team closer. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the team grow together because we’re a lot of different age groups and skill levels,” she said. Jacobs is looking forward to traveling with the team to nationals, which are held in Pennsylvania.
In the future, Jacobs hopes to continue playing club squash at the University of Virginia, which she will be attending in the fall. Annabelle will continue to be a vital player for the Squash team this season and we wish her and the rest of the team the best of luck!
