After countless rigorous drilling and conditioning sessions, the Monash Squash team headed off to Perth hoping to play their best against some stiff competition at UniSport Nationals this year.

The six person team, made up of Jarod Lee (Team Captain and Coach), Carina Loi, Christopher Pon, Lara du Plessis, Daniel Beh and Kyungmin (Zoe) Lee, came out swinging, winning their first match against the University of Sydney by 20 points! Day 2 of the competition saw them competing against the University of Western Australia and the University of Tasmania, the two most dominant teams at Nationals this year, who would later go on to play against each other in the gold medal match. Jarod Lee played a hard-fought match against the University of Tasmania, going to five games, ending with a final score of 12-10.

Day 3 was an excellent day for Monash, with the team winning both of their matches! First, Monash played a very close match against the University of Melbourne, Monash’s biggest competition this year, winning with a final score of 109-102! Later that day, Monash played against the University of Technology Sydney, winning easily by 50 points.

These wins catapulted them into the bronze medal match on the last day of the games against the University of Melbourne. Melbourne, having been defeated the day before, was not going to go down without a fight. The final matches were very tough, as both teams had played back-to-back games all week long and were beginning to fatigue. Carina Loi, however, managed to grin and bear it for one last match, absolutely killing her competition, winning 3-0. Carina Loi was a stand-out member of the team, always fighting tooth and nail for a win, with many of her matches going to five games! 

Christopher Pon, another star player for Monash throughout the competition, faced up against the former Sri Lankan number one, unfortunately losing 0-3. Unfortunately, Monash lost the bronze medal game, with a final score of 72-84. 

Despite the team being a bit disappointed with the final outcome, they are still very satisfied with how they played. The team captain stated that “Everyone did really well!”, also mentioning the fact that the team worked really well together, supporting one another from start to finish!

Looking towards the future, the squash team is hoping to continue improving for next year and have Christopher Pon teach them the “ways of the kettlebell lunges”.

Congratulations on your campaign this year, looking forward to seeing what is to come!

Written by Olivia Mc Mahon