SQUASHZILLA

National Capital Squash is pleased to announce a new annual awards program to recognize the achievements of juniors who have excelled in US Squash sanctioned tournament play during the 2009-2010 season.

All awards were based on objective standards and we plan to continue presenting these awards on an annual basis for future seasons.

Congratulations to all the award winners for a fine season!

Most Improved Players:

Kira Keating — Girls Under 15
Cesar Peralta — Boys Under 17
Geoffrey Keating — Boys Under 19

Rookies of the Year:

Zachary Ho — BU13 & BU15
Rachel Brown — GU17 & GU19
Cameron Bahadori — BU13 & BU15
Alexander Alvarez — BU17 & BU19
Greg Berson — BU17 & BU19
Caroline Resor — GU17 & GU19

Most Valuable Players:

Liam Rotzoll — Boys Under 11
Theo Mendez — Boys Under 13
Zachary Ho — Boys Under 15
Geoffrey Keating — Boys Under 17
Bryan Keating — Boys Under 19
Candace Craig — Girls Under 13
Kira Keating — Girls Under 15
Camille Lanier — Girls Under 17

All Star Award:

Alexander Nassikas — Boys Under 19
Jacqueline Barnes — Girls Under 17
Rachel Brown — Girls Under 17

National Team Award:

Jeremy Barnes — Boys Under 13
Jack Quamme — Boys Under 13
Caden Petersmeyer — Boys Under 15
Cameron Bahadori — Boys Under 15
James Matthews — Boys Under 15
Peter Murphy — Boys Under 15
Sandeep Rishi — Boys Under 15
Aaron Fernandez — Boys Under 17
Alexander Alvarez — Boys Under 17
Carson Craig — Boys Under 17
Cesar Peralta — Boys Under 17
Cyrus Nassikas — Boys Under 17
Dimitri Halikias — Boys Under 17
Greg Berson — Boys Under 17
Robert Bohn — Boys Under 17
Sam Patterson — Boys Under 17
Carter Clarke — Boys Under 19
Jeremy Ho — Boys Under 19
Taylor Nides — Girls Under 13
Caroline Resor — Girls Under 17
Lucy Gibson — Girls Under 17

Many NCS Juniors came home with trophies from the Bronze National Championships at Yale Sunday April 25, 2010, and those who did not can be proud of their achievements. Every player who entered proved he or she is competitive in a nationally contested tournament!

Here is a report on the nine NCS players who played through the last day of the tournament:

Geoffrey Keating, playing up an age division in BU19, took second place, losing in the finals to Baltimore’s David Snyder. Just two years ago, Geoff made it to the semis in the BU15 Bronze Nationals, so you could say he made more than four years of progress in less than two years.

Zach Ho lost a very tight 5 game match in the BU15 semifinals this morning, with two games decided 11-9 and one 12-10! Zach went on to win third place in another closely contested five game match. This was Zach’s first national tournament, a fantastic result!

Alex Alvarez won third place in BU17, winning in three straight games, two of which went to 13-11. Alex plays for The Potomac School’s Varsity and clearly is a rising star in the Mid-Atlantic Squash Organization High School League.

Rachel Brown took fourth place in GU17, losing in four games, with one of the losses going to 13-11.

Theo Mendez took sixth place in BU15, losing an exciting five game match that featured two tie-breaker games. This was also Theo’s first national championship tournament, and even more impressively Theo recently just aged out of BU13. Theo is another young NCS player to watch in future seasons.

Greg Berson won the consolation finals in BU17, marking another NCS player making his debut on the national championship stage. Interestingly, Greg won by successively larger margins as the tournament progressed, a very difficult task. Usually matches get more difficult to win as you progress further in the tournament. Greg won his round of 16 consolations match in 5 games, his quarterfinals match in four games, and then today won both his semifinals and finals matches in three games! During the finals match, one spectator rooting for his opponent said Greg “gets to everything!” An exaggeration perhaps, but not much. That’s a good goal for any aspiring junior — if you can get to and return the ball each time, you will win. Easier said than done.

Sam Patterson, in his debut in a national championship, reached the consolation semifinals in BU17 and played a hotly contested five game match. That was the equivalent to an 11th/12th place finish in a very competitive 32 player draw.

Carter Clarke won the BU19 plate in his most convincing win of the tournament, winning the finals in three straight games. He had to turn back Jeremy Ho in the semis, with both players playing very well in a tight five game match.

Caroline Resor reached the GU17 plate semifinals but lost a competitive four game match where no game was won by more than three points.

Congratulations to all the NCS Juniors for an excellent tournament and a record turnout among NCS Juniors!

See reports for Day 1 and Day 2.

NCS juniors played well in another successful day of squash Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Nine of the fifteen here at the Bronze National Championships will play in semifinal, third place and/or finals matches on Sunday, an incredible result. Quite possibly more would still be playing through Sunday, but in several cases two NCS players had to play each other today, and obviously only one could win.

Having all the NCS players playing here has been great — the players are all doing their best to support each other. It’s like having a home away from home and a fan base hundreds of miles from home.

In the BU15s, Zach Ho topped Theo Mendez in the quarterfinals. Zach advances to the semifinals, and Theo plays a semifinal for the right to the fifth place match. Cameron Bahadori lost in the third round of the consolations, meaning he finished in the top 24 of the 60 players here, a promising start for an NCS rookie junior playing in his first national championship tournament. Caden Petersmeyer was also eliminated today, but he played well and clearly is another NCS rookie junior to watch in the seasons ahead.

In BU17, Alex Alvarez dropped the first two games of his quarterfinals match with the #3 seed, but then roared back to win three straight. He lost his semifinal in four games, including one loss that went to a tiebreaker. He plays for third place Sunday.

Cyrus Nassikas won his second round consolation match easily, while Sam Patterson and Greg Berson both had tough 5 game wins to move to the consolation quarterfinals. Unfortunately for NCS bragging rights, Cyrus faced off against Sam in the quarters, and Sam won in a closely contested four game match. Greg Berson won in four games too. Sam and Greg play in different consolation semifinals matches Sunday morning.

In GU17, Rachel Brown won her quarterfinal match in convincing style, allowing the #4 seed just 12 points in a three game win. She fell to the #1 seed in the semis in four games on the exhibition glass court and plays for third place Sunday.

Caroline Resor won her plate quarterfinals match in four games and plays a semifinal match tomorrow.

Geoffrey Keating, playing up an age division in BU19, crushed the #8 seed in the quarterfinals in three games. He played a thrilling semifinals match against perhaps the fastest player in the tournament that featured incredible gets by both players and long rallies. The match drew a large crowd that repeatedly broke out in applause for well played points. Geoff won the first game, dropped the next two, then took the last two games to win a berth in the finals against fellow Marylander David Snyder on the exhibition glass court.

Jeremy Ho reached the consolation quarterfinals and lost a tight four game match. Carter Clarke will play in the plate semifinals Sunday morning.

See the report for Day 1.

Congratulations to the 15 National Capital Squash area juniors who were accepted into the US SQUASH Bronze National Championships at Yale University April 23-25. This is a record number of NCS juniors who qualified for the tournament. We will be reporting each day on the highlights.

There is a record turnout here in BU15, with 60 juniors nationwide competing. Theo Mendez and Zach Ho cruised, winning both their first two matches comfortably, and both have advanced to the round of 16. Cameron Bahadori won his round of 64 match, then fell to the #1 seed in a competitive match. Cameron won his first round consolation match. Caden Petersmeyer lost his first round consolation match, playing very well and taking a game off a highly rated opponent. He moves to the plate division.

In BU17, Alex Alvarez overwhelmed his first two opponents, and has reached the quarterfinals, where he faces the #4 seed Saturday. Cyrus Nassikas, Greg Berson and Sam Patterson all won their first round matches, but lost in the round of 16. Greg and Sam both lost tough 5 game matches there. Cesar Peralta and Aaron Fernandez fell out of the main draw in marathon 5 game matches in the first round, but both won their first round consolation matches.

Rachel Brown easily won her first round match in GU17 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Caroline Resor moves to the consolations after losing a hard fought four game match that featured two games that went to tiebreakers.

In BU19, Geoffrey Keating advanced to the quarterfinals after allowing his opponent just 8 points in his first match. Jeremy Ho won his first round match, then lost to the #2 seed in an awesome match where all three games went to tiebreakers, including the last game that went to 15-13. It was a tough loss, but proved that Jeremy can play with the top players here. Carter Clarke lost a tough 4 game match and also moves to the consolations.

Live results are available online here.

Congratulations to the local juniors who became part of squash history by playing in the first ever National Capital Squash Junior Championship tournament Feb. 27-28.

Here are the results:

Division 1

GU15 Winner — Anna Armstrong; Finalist — Emma Resor

BU15 Winner — Zach Ho; Finalist — Theo Mendez; Third Place Cameron Bahadori; Fourth Place Caden Petersmeyer

GU17 Winner — Jacqueline Barnes; Finalist — Rachel Brown

BU17 Winner — Dimitri Halikias; Finalist — Cyrus Nassikas

BU19 Winner — Alexander Nassikas; Finalist — Geoffrey Keating

Division 2

GU17 Winner — Allegra Wilson; Finalist — Caroline Charendoff

BU17 Winner — Patrick Hackett; Finalist — Tyler Smallwood

BU19 Winner — Nicholas Mendez; Finalist — Reilley Keane

Complete results for division 1 and division 2.

Boys Under 15 Winner Zach Ho and Finalist Theo Mendez played a thrilling finals match that went to 5 games.

Potomac School’s Cameron Bahadori (right) and Caden Petersmeyer took third and fourth place, in a well-played match that went to four games.

Anna Armstrong won the Girls Under 15 division after beating Emma Resor in a five game match.

Cyrus Nassikas (right) beat the top seeded player to make the Boys Under 17 finals, losing in four games to winner Dimitri Halikias.

Patrick Hackett won Boys Under 17 Division 2 after defeating finalist Tyler Smallwood in a five game match.

Jacqueline Barnes (right), who won the National Silver Championships in GU 15 last year, won the Girls Under 17 division, defeating rising squash star Rachel Brown in a four game finals.

It was an all Potomac School finals in Boys Under 19, with senior Alexander Nassikas (right) defeating sophomore Geoffrey Keating.