Juniors Lamond , Conduit, and Warzecha help Friars overcome early season drama to end season with a victory

The squash program has struggled since its inception in the early 2000s.  The beginning of this year seemed no different.  Seniors Colin Murphy, Brandon Parvesse, Conor Glancy, and Greg Miller quit the team before tryouts began.

The team has never had much success in the Inter-Ac.  With the loss of four key senior players, the season seemed like it would be yet another disappointment.

“We all decided that the team wasn’t going anywhere because we’re not competitive at all so it would be a pretty big waste of time”, said Murphy.

“The coach is trying to rebuild the program which is good, but he shouldn’t spend his time trying to make seniors better.”

The sound of four seniors quitting a sport in their final year sounds harsh, but were they acting in the best interest of the program?  Miller seemed to believe so.

“If Malvern has any chance at competing with their Inter-ac competitors, they need to focus on the future”, said Miller. “They need to focus their attention on the young, and start to develop skills at a very early point.”

The juniors and underclassmen had to step up in a big way to salvage the season without any seniors. And did they ever.

The team limped through a brutal Inter Ac schedule, but remained confident.

At the national championships in Philadelphia, they were seeded in the fifth division that featured 15 other schools.

Juniors Mike Lamond, Steve Conduit, and Vince Warzecha dominated throughout the tournament  and lead the team to a 4-3 victory over the Hill School in the championship.

At the beginning the season, this would have seemed like an impossible feat for the team. But the team stuck together and maintained a positive and confident attitude, at the guidance of the junior players.

When asked about his senior depleted team at the onset of the season, Coah Khan said, “I always look at the glass as half full.  I’m not going to sit around and cry about it.  We have some great young players that are getting an opportunity to play.  We’re trying to build a winning program for the next three to five years.”

And with a national championship this year, it seems the team is well on their way to becoming a force in the Inter Ac over the next couple years.