Martlets Fall to Bearcats

The Martlets came to the courts ready to battle with Hotchkiss before the departure for the long weekend. While we knew this was going to be a tough match, Hotchkiss had a few players playing up on varsity. After a brief delay due to court availability, we warmed up and went out to play. Due to Hotchkiss only having 7 players, we started with the even numbers plus #7. After their respective first games, only Mark Yang ‘26 at #2 was able to win his first frame. However, they were all very close games and gave us hope all of these Martlets would be able to pull out wins. Daniel Edwards ‘24 at #7 battled hard to win the second game 15-13, before dropping the final two games 6-11 and 10-12. Ryan Sohn ‘27 at #6 also played some close points, dropping all of his games in close fashion, 11-13, 10-12 and 8-11. Next off court was Mark Yang ‘26 at #2. After taking the first game 11-7, he won a long game 12-10 before dropping the third game 10-12. He rebounded nicely to pick up the first point for the Martlets, winning his fourth game 11-7 to seal the 3-1 victory. Robert Yalda ‘24 rebounded from a 13-15 first game loss to take the next two 11-7. After quickly dropping the fourth game, he rebounded and they played a very competitive final game which Yalda won 11-9. After the first round of very competitive matches, the score stood at 2-2. David Suit ‘24, playing at #1 for the first time for us, played a phenomenal match to give us a 3-2 lead. His agility and movement around the court was impressive to watch, and he won his match 11-8, 11-4 and 11-2 for a routine 3-0 win. Last on court were two of our seniors, Nick Dowling ‘24 and Phil Zhang ‘24, playing at numbers 3 and 5 respectively. Dowling dropped his first game 7-11, but played some good squash in his final two games dropping them 10-12 and 9-11. Finally, Phil played a great first two games but hit a few too many balls into the tin at the end of the second. Having come off the court after 2 games as the better player, he was locked in a 1-1 battle. After he quickly dropped the third game 1-11, his opponent came out strong and was heading toward the victory. Phil maintained his composure, and fought off 3 match points before taking the fourth game 14-12. In a 3-3 overall match, the match came down to the deciding fifth game on #5. WHile Phil was not about to pull out the win, he showed tremendous fight and both him and his opponent played excellent squash. The Martlets knew they had played well and departed for long weekend feeling positive. After the Long weekend, the Martlets will return to school and play at home against Williston on Wednesday February 7th.