By Paul Silverfarb
Sentinel Editor
In its final tune-up for the HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships, the Sacred Heart Greenwich squash team traveled up to Westport and upended Greens Farms Academy, 6-1 Monday afternoon.
“We are lucky that we have such a strong team,” said head coach Celia Pashley. “Whether it’s the JV, varsity or our new thirds team, we have a lot of depth. That’s really helpful when we go to meets like this today because we had a few girls that were out sick.”
In six matches, the Tigers came away with six victories. Sophia Georgas led the way at No. 1 by upending GFA’s Clare Foley, while Cameron Calcano finished off Charlotte Cohen at No. 2. Competing at No. 3 was Grace Nemec, who beat Lucy Nelson. Not to be outdone was Caroline Featherstone at No. 4, who finished off Samantha Cohen. Arielle Uygur came away with the victory over Greens Farm’s Annabelle Kreitler. Rounding out the day was Georgia Ferguson, who was victorious at No. 6 over Kate Millard.
“In addition, I was able to leave my top three players to rest and gear up for Nationals coming up,” Pashley said. “I moved the team around a little bit and they responded really well. I am really happy with everybody today.”
And the Tigers will certainly play some of the most elite competition they’ve ever seen, as Sacred Heart will compete in this weekend’s HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships down in Philadelphia, Pa. at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.
“This is so exciting for us and it’s something that we always look forward to,” Pashley said. “We know it’s a tiring weekend, but it’s worth it. We are really happy to participate in it and especially this year with the varsity team making the D-I level. It’s big because it’ hasn’t been done in quite a few years at the school, so it’s really nice and the girls deserve it. They’ve been working really hard and really training hard.”
“It is tough, that’s for sure,” Pashley said. “I keep telling the girls that we are there and deserve to be there. We are playing the best players in the country and it’s a great experience for them. I think that everybody else has the pressure. There’s not a lot of people that expect that much from us. We are the outsider that are trying to upset a couple of teams.”
Back on Jan. 24, Sacred Heart Greenwich traveled up to Hotchkiss for competition. Although the Tigers were defeated in a hard-fought 4-3 decision, Pashley believed that having such a close loss against one of the best teams in the country proved that SHG belongs on the big stage.
“We lost 4-3, but we were close in that deciding match and we could have beaten Hotchkiss,” said Pashley. “This match showed that we are where we belong and we will have some close matches against at least in the National consolation matches. We are still hoping for the main draw though.”
Helping Sacred Heart try to reach new heights will be their top squash player, Katie Keller. However she will have quite the task at hand, as she will be competing against the opposition’s top athlete throughout Nationals.
Helping Keller out this year will be Tory Huchro at the No. 2 slot and Erin O’Connor at No. 3.
“Our top three players have a lot of experience, as they compete on the junior tour as well as on the team,” Pashley said. “So they bring that experience and they know what to expect in big matches.
“I think actually all those top three will have a hard job because they will all compete against a top-ranked athlete that is most likely top 10 in the country,” added Pashley. “It’s hard for me to have expectations for them, but I am hoping that we get a couple of victories with those three and have the bottom four squash players on the team step it up and pick up some wins.”
Competing at No. 4 will be Georgas, while Calcano is at the No. 5 position. Nemec is at No. 6, while teammate Mary O’Connor will be at the No. 7 slot. Featherstone will be the team’s substitute at No. 8.
“We have a very strong four through seven and all these girls are really close to each other and we have that depth,” Pashley said. “Any one of the girls from four to seven can be anywhere within this bracket and I am hoping they can step it up and help the top three that will have really hard matches.”
For Pashley, she would love to see her team win the first-round matches at Nationals. However, it will be a tough task. As one of the lower seeds in Division I, the Tigers will play one of the elite programs, possibly a match-up against perennial power and rival Greenwich Academy.
“Realistically I would like to see my girls try to fight for the consolation finals,” Pashley said. “I think we have the potential if everybody plays at 100% and at a level I know they can play at. If we could finish ninth, and do better than where we were originally seeded, that would be wonderful.”
And after the national championship event, there still plenty of squash in the future for Sacred Heart Greenwich.
The Tigers will face off against Loomis Chaffee, St. Paul’s and St. Luke’s School before heading out to the New England tournament that gets underway on Feb. 24.
“New England is always a good one for us because it kind of lowers the number of teams and it’s really competitive,” Pashley said. “As of now we are seeded seventh out of 16 teams and I think this year I think we will aim for top five. I would like them to bring up our ranking and push even more.”
No matter what happens during the HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships this weekend, Pashley couldn’t be prouder of her Tigers.
“All the girls bring something different to the team and that’s actually one of our biggest strengths,” Pashley said. “We have different players and personalities and I feel like they are all individuals that fit well. They really bonded well as a team. They all get along really well together and we have really good team spirit. The girls like to hang out together, both on the court and off the court.”
