January 26, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Springside squash squeaks by GFS, 4-3
by TOM UTESCHER

Springside number one Emery Maine was pushed to five games in last Wednesday’s match, but remained undefeated. (photo by Lene White)

Most of Springside School’s squash matches this season have ended in either lopsided wins or losses, but in last Wednesday’s non-league bout the Lions found themselves evenly-matched against Germantown Friends School.

Hosting the contest at the Germantown Cricket Club, the GFS Tigers were winners in the second, third and sixth positions, while visiting Springside prevailed at number one, four, five, and seven to pull out a 4-3 victory. Most of the individual matches extended past the three-game minimum, with three of them going to a fourth game and two others stretching into a fifth round. The outcome raised the Lions’ record to 6-4 overall, while Germantown Friends leveled out at 2-2.

Francesca Gilbert, a senior co-captain for the Tigers, defeated Springside’s sophomore number two, Nina Testa, 9-6, 9-5, 9-4, and in the other three-game match, Lions senior Elspeth Lodge won in the fourth spot over GFS sophomore Mariah Barstow, 9-1, 9-7, 9-2.

In between these two rungs on the ladder, the hosts’ number three, junior Carolyn Tilney, topped senior visitor Alison Curry, 9-6, 9-10, 9-7, 9-6. At six and seven there were reversals of fortune, as the winner of the opening game eventually lost the match. Junior Julia Miller, the Tigers’ number six, won at 6-9, 9-5, 9-4, 9-2 over Springside senior Whitney Manly-Power, and in the seventh position visiting sophomore Leslie Jacoby overtook GFS freshman Annie Tickell, 4-9, 9-2, 9-6, 9-2.

At number five, Springside freshman Gretchen Carlson opened with a 9-4 win, but Tigers junior Suzanne Parker roared back to take the second round at 9-0. Carlson rebounded for a 9-3 win in the third, then the fourth frame went to Parker by the same score. Finally, Carlson decided the issue with a 9-2 victory in the fifth.

The number one match featured two nationally-ranked players in Springside senior Emery Maine and Germantown junior Hannah Conant. They know one another well, as Conant is a Chestnut Hill resident who lives almost on Springside’s doorstep. Unfortunately, neither was in top form for this particular contest, with Maine suffering from a cold and Conant coping with an injured quad muscle.

Maine came into the match undefeated for the season, but found herself in an 0-2 hole for the first time this winter as Conant won each of the first two games by a score of 9-6. Maine said later that she needed to focus on the quality of her shots in order to turn the match around, and this evidently worked in the third game, which she won, 9-0.

After Maine captured the first four points in the fourth game, Conant rallied back within one at 4-5, but Maine went on to win 9-5. Game five followed a similar scenario, with the Springsider breaking out to a 5-0 lead, and Conant closing within one (5-6) before Maine captured the next three points to prevail 9-5.

Springside number eight Lucy Rice and number nine Anna Hayne both came out on top in a pair of exhibition matches with their GFS counterparts.