The squash team lost the Chevy Chase Interclub Varsity League Division I Championship, 5-2, to the Wakefield School from Middleburg, Virginia, Feb. 16. The loss concludes a 5-1 season for the Vikes.

The championship featured seven matches. To secure a victory, a player had to win the best of five games of 11 points. Sophomores Taimur Chaudry and David Bloch were the only Vikings to best their opponents, with respective scores of 3-1 and 3-2.

“All of our players played well, but Wakefield pushed harder at the end,” coach Connie Barnes said.

Senior Jackie Barnes, the Vikes’ highest-ranked player, lost 0-3 in a tough match against Wakefield’s Carson Craig. Barnes is heading to Australia next for a gap year, where she will play with the Australian Juniors team and try out to represent Australia at the 2013 World Juniors Championship. After that, she’ll play for George Washington University, where she won a scholarship for her talent.

“I was tired, my opponent was really good, and he hit it really hard. I just wasn’t ready for that,” Barnes said, patting Craig on the back as he passed.

The co-ed club squash team practices after school three times a week at the Chevy Chase Athletic Center and competes there weekly in tournaments and matches. Players on the team are split into two groups, one with Division I players and one with Division II players. The absence of two Division I players at the Championship forced Coach Barnes to move two players up from the Division II group, she said.

The match was the fourth CCIVL Championship in a row to feature Whitman vs. Wakefield. Whitman won the first two matches, and Wakefield just tied the record with their win this year. Coach Barnes hopes to return for a win next year.