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Squashing the Competition
The Varsity Squash team had the best season in the history of its existence at Calvert Hall.
The Varsity Squash team had a season to remember. Last year the team had not won a single game and finished last in the MIAA. The team worked very hard this year to improve and make it a season that would be remembered by all the players. The team went to Nationals hoping to make their hard work pay off. Nationals were in Philadelphia and the team was to make the trip up on Friday, February 2nd. The team was excited for the weekend ahead of them not only because of Nationals but it was also Super Bowl weekend. The squash team was in Philadelphia where one of the Super Bowl teams was from. The atmosphere of Philadelphia was incredible due to their Eagles being in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2005 and not having won a Super Bowl yet.
When I asked Michael Hershey ‘19 if he could feel the excitement of the city he said, “Absolutely, everyone was wearing Eagles jerseys, there were banners and flags on street lights.” “There were also lights that said ‘Go Eagles’ on tall buildings,” said Beau Quaerna ’19. Even with the distraction of the Super Bowl the team still had their eyes on the prize and that was to win Nationals. The team played some tough teams from Chicago, Pennsylvania, and a familiar opponent, Loyola Blakefield. The team won all three matches. I asked Beau how many of his matches he won and he said, “I won two out of my three matches.” The team moved on to the final to find out that they were only to play their rival Loyola. The teams battled it out and made it a close match. In the end, the Cards won a close match against the rival Dons and were crowned Division 7 National Champions.
The team had accomplished something that no squash team at Calvert Hall has done before and that is to win Nationals. When I asked Michael how he felt after being crowned champions he said, “I was hyped. Last year we hadn’t won a single game and then we come out this year and are National Champs. That is a big accomplishment.” They have had some sponsored games like #FilltheMill which had a good turnout. Matthew Kearney ’18 said “I would say my favorite game this year was our Fill the Mill match against Loyola. After a close first match of the season against Loyola, we entered our senior night knowing that the fans who came out would see a tightly-contested match. With the great support from the students and teachers in attendance, we were able to pull out another win,” when I asked him about his favorite match this season.
Squash isn’t a very popular sport a Calvert Hall like soccer or basketball is but it is getting some attention. With people attending the events like the #FilltheMill, the sport of squash is growing. Also, with the team winning Nationals the team is being congratulated and more people are starting to get interested in squash. I asked Ethan Sheridan ’20 if he knew the sport squash before he came to Calvert Hall and he said, “Nah, but when I came to Calvert Hall my teacher Mr. Siegner told me how fun the sport was. Then the sport started to grow at Calvert Hall.” I also talked to Matt about the season they had this year. I asked him what was different from this year compared to last and he said, “This year the culture of the team has been very different. Last year a lot of guys would not show up to practice or games and generally didn't put forth the effort to get better. This year, with the help of our coaches we have worked hard in practice and improved greatly, even since the beginning of the season.” The team's final record for the MIAA was 4-10. Matt commented on that saying, “This might not seem like a great record, but the MIAA is one of the best squash conferences in the country and we have improved greatly from a winless last season.” The squash team is an up and coming sports team at Calvert Hall. So, make sure you pay attention to their next few seasons to see another great one like this year.
