| 15/11/2000 : LSE 2nd 3 : 2 RHUL 1st (BUSA) 2 pm It was a freezing day and the conditions for squash was less then perfect. It got worse when the 2nds saw the Royal Holloway 1st team warm up. They had some spectecular players on show. At 2.30 pm, Charlie got on the way playing without his customary tied hair and for the first set, he seemed out of sorts. He was outrunned and outhit by a noticeably stronger opponent. He tamely surrendered the first set 9-4 with the only consolation being the panting of his opponent. Charlie was still fresh and showed hit by taking the next 3 sets with more consistent hitting. Shaman was up next. He too wasn't up to his normal standard. His opponent's nerves enabled him to take the first set easily. But a lack of concentration and sheer determination put him 2 sets to 1 down. He composed himself and outlasted his opponent in 5 gruelling sets to put LSE 2 - 0 up. Captain Tom was next. His opponent looked good, and played with both hands (literally!). Swapping his racket about his hands, he managed to confuse Tom for about 5 points before succumbing to the hardhitting hairster in 3 sets. LSE was through, making the last 2 singles inconsequential. The remaining two players, James and Will had a good workout but gracefully allowed their opponents to win to make the score more respectable for RHUL. Overall, it was a good battle royale with the results siding the good. e.K 15/11/2000 : LSE Ladies 1 : 3 Surrey (BUSA) 2 pm On the other court, the ladies battle against the university of Surrey was taking place. Surrey had 3 players while we had 4, meaning that we needed to win 2 in order to draw the tie. Stephanie was heading our list of players as our captain was still out of action. She immediately stamped her authority by sneaking the first set past her opponent. However, her opponent was not a pushover. She maintained her composure and preyed on Steph's inexperience to win the next 3 sets. Playing her first match for LSE, Shikha stomped on the court to meet her opponent. The combination of nerves and her opponents good luck meant that she wasn't very successful. She too, went down fighting in straight sets. Claire was up next to try to salvage some pride for the LSE ladies. She stormed into a one set lead without even breaking a sweat, sending her opponent into a state of shellshock. However, her teammates consoled her and gave her precious advice and strategies. Claire on the other hand was distracted by the noise made by the other court and lost her concentration, and the next 3 sets to make it a whitewash for Surrey. No worries gals, it just our first loss of the season. e.K |