Boys' Squash Wins Inter-Ac Title!

The Varsity Boys' Squash Team has won the Inter-Ac title for the first time since 2012.

"I am so proud of the boys for winning the Inter-Ac!" shared coach J.R. Russell. "It's great to see all of their hard work pay off."

The team secured the Inter-Ac title after a tight and exhaustive 5-4 win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on Tuesday, January 16.

"It's great to see the Inter-Ac come back to EA and hopefully stay here," shared co-captain Eric Kim '18. "After playing on the team for five years and losing to Haverford and SCH every year for four years, it's exciting to finally get some results and end that streak in my senior year."

"The highlight from my match was being able to pull out the win in five games for the team," said Declan McCarthy '18. Five of the nine matches went to five games.

Another highlight was a 3-2 battle and win by Billy Stavropoulos '20 against an opponent he recently lost to in a U.S. Squash tournament.

"SCH always brings a crowd out to their courts and they get loud for their kids so with such a young team, it was impressive to see how everyone including the underclassmen handled the pressure," said Eric.

"The team supported each other throughout the tight team match and showed excellent sportsmanship," said Director of Squash, Demer Holleran. "The three seniors showed great leadership in coming prepared to fight for the win."

Earlier in the season, the team beat last year's High School Nationals champions- The Haverford School (6-3). Winning the Inter-Ac and beating Haverford and SCH has been especially memorable for the seniors on the team. "It has been so long since we have done all three," said Declan.

The team now has its sights on the upcoming MASA Tournament (1/30, 2/6, 2/8) and High School National Tournament (2/2-2/4).

"We will try to improve on what we've been able to accomplish this year," said Eric. "In the four years that I've been to High School Nationals, the highest we've finished has been 7th place and I think that with this team this year we have a chance to finish in the top four in the country."

SCH Match Results:

#1-Eric Kim '18/3-0

#2/Declan McCarthy '18/3-2

#3 Shaam Gambhir '22/3-0

#4Gio Matarazzo '18/3-0

#5/Tom Hogan '20/3-2 (loss)

#6 Nikhil Kakarla '20/3-2 (loss)

#7/Sameer Saxena '20/3-1 (loss)

#8/Billy Stavropoulos '20/3-2

#9Neil Bam '20/3-0 (loss)