Last weekend the women’s squash team brought home the banner from the OUA Championships in Waterloo.
OUA Rookie of the Year Erin Roberts led the Gaels to victory, competing against other universities’ top players and winning every time. In the semifinal she beat the University of Toronto’s Megan Northey 3-0 and edged the University of Western Ontario’s Samantha Hennings 3-2 in the final.
Usually an individual competitor, Roberts said the team aspect made the victory sweeter.
“Playing as a team was different than what we normally do in squash but it was really good,” she said. “[We’re usually] not [competitive] towards one another, we play well as a team. We’re mostly competitive towards other opponents from other schools”
However, Roberts said the fact that the provincial championships rested on a team effort made her more anxious than usual.
“I was definitely a lot more nervous going in because you might let your team down but winning as a team is just that much better,” she said.
Roberts said she’s been playing squash since she was 11 years old.
“When I was little I had a lot of energy and I played tennis and badminton,” she said. “Unfortunately in tennis and badminton you need an opponent so my parents stuck me in a squash court.”
A Calgary native, Roberts said the number of recreational squash players is surprising, but it doesn’t hinder the team’s court time.
“I noticed coming to Queen’s a lot of people play recreationally,” she said. “It’s really hard to get courts almost any time, you have to book days in advance. But at home there’s not many recreational players. … The university books us off court times for our scheduled practices and then if I want to pay someone else from the team we have to book a couple of days in advance.”
A first-year engineering student, Roberts said balancing her workload with squash isn’t tough.
“It’s usually not too bad but this week’s been pretty crazy with OUA Championships and numerous midterms and such,” she said. “I’ve never really tried to get out of anything because it’s so hard with such large classes. There’s 700 engineers and we all have the same classes.”
With four years of eligibility ahead of her, Roberts said she hopes this year isn’t the squash team’s pinnacle.
“Unfortunately we’re losing half our team next year as well as our coach David Banbury, although we still have our top four,” she said. “We’ll definitely get some more players next year to make up for what we have this year.”
1. Who controls the music in the dressing room?
We don’t play any.
2. What reality show do you most want to go on?
I want to go on American Idol if I could sing, but I can’t.
3. Team’s favourite movie to watch on the bus?
We’ve only watched one and we were watching Sex in the City. I wasn’t watching though.
4. Ovechkin or Crosby?
Crosby.
5. Who’s winning Olympic gold in men’s hockey?
Canada.
6. Favorite comedian?
Can I say Will Ferrell? Is he a comedian? He’s an actor/comedian.
7. What did you think of Avatar?
Haven’t seen it. Not really into those types of movies.
8. Best late-night food spot in Kingston?
Lazy Scholar.
9. Sport you most want to try?
I really want to snowboard. I have before, and I was pretty bad at it. I wish I was good at it.
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