The Rye girls squash team is off to a strong start, with exceptional play from its leaders and depth provided by a promising group of young players.
The Garnets’ Varsity 1 team is 6-2, including a 2-0 record in Fairwest League play, after beating Hopkins 6-1 and losing to Taft 5-2 in a trimatch at Hopkins School (New Haven, Conn.) the weekend of Jan. 11.
The team is led by Rye senior co-captains Ella Erickson and Taylor Bainbridge, along with Kat Callaway, a senior from Port Chester who plays on the team in an athletic department merger. Erickson is a two-time U.S. Squash All-American and anchors the team at No. 1.
“Much of our depth this season comes from a core of young players: freshmen Sophia and Juliana Echlov, Natalie Hofmann, Eliza Relyea and Kaitlyn Coyne, and sophomores Sam Coyne and Kristin Triolo,” said coach Tony Campbell. “The team faced Masters School (Dobbs Ferry) yesterday without the seniors and still swept all nine matches.”
With 74 participants, Rye’s girls squash team may be the largest squash program at any institution in the country and maybe the world, Campbell said.
For the first time, the team traveled to Manhattan to play the Spence School, where they were narrowly defeated 4-3. Other wins this year came against Hackley and Rye Country Day.
The Varsity Red (B) team is undefeated at 6-0, with the most recent win coming against St. Luke’s School in New Canaan, Conn.
Campbell said the highlight of the season will be when the team competes for the first time in the U.S. Squash Interscholastic Tournament this weekend (Jan. 24-26) in Philadelphia.
