Varsity Squash Wins Div. III Girls National Championship

On Sunday afternoon, under the bright lights and glass walls at The Arlen Specter Center, a group of Germantown Friends School student-athletes stood shoulder to shoulder, arms wrapped around one another, voices hoarse from cheering, and a national championship banner held tightly in their hands.

It was the kind of moment teams dream about in November and grind for all winter. This time, it belonged to the GFS girls varsity squash team.

The Tigers claimed the Division III title in the U.S. High School Team Squash Championships, completing a three-day journey defined by composure, resilience, and complete trust in one another. From the first serve on Friday to the final point on Sunday, the girls varsity squash team showed exactly what Tiger pride looks like on the national stage.

The weekend began at Philadelphia Cricket Club, where early-round matches carry a mix of excitement and nerves. School colors from across the country filled the hallways, and every team arrived with the same thought: stay alive long enough to make it to Sunday’s finals.

GFS wasted no time setting the tone. In their opening match against St. George’s School, Maggie Ruger ’26, Ellie Gehl ’27, Mira Nirmul ’29, and Gwen Bishop ’29 each earned 3–0 victories, with Ezra Breslin ’28 adding another win to secure a confident 5–2 team result. It was exactly the fast start the Tigers needed. 

Saturday brought the real test.

The field had tightened, and every match felt heavier. A quarterfinal clash with Hopkins School quickly turned into a roller coaster. After dropping the first two matches, the Tigers responded. Ruger steadied the group with a dominant 3–0 win (11-2, 11-2, 11-2), and Breslin battled back from a game down to claim a gritty five-game victory (10-12, 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 11-5).

Still, Hopkins surged ahead 3–2. Everything came down to two courts.

With two matches left to decide who would advance to the final four that evening, it was freshman Mira Nirmul and junior Ellie Gehl who remained on the court for the Tigers. They needed a sweep to keep their National Championship dreams alive.

Nirmul got off to an amazing start, winning her opening game (11–5) and grinding out a tough victory in game two (13–11) before dropping games three and four (9–11, 5–11). Meanwhile, on the court next door, Gehl was locked in a classic back-and-forth battle. She took game one (11–6), lost game two (7–11), played an almost flawless game three (11–1), then dropped game four (9–11).

Spectators were in a constant shuffle between courts, trying to keep track of both matches. Nirmul’s match was slightly ahead of Gehl’s as the crowd gathered behind the glass. The goal was simple: get the match to Ellie with a chance for her to finish it. Without a win in match six, match seven wouldn’t matter.

Despite being a freshman, Nirmul showed resilience and a level of calm often reserved for veteran players. She never wavered, trusted her game, and executed when it mattered most, earning a decisive 11–7 win to keep the Tigers alive.

All eyes then turned to Gehl. Steadfast in her focus, she dug deep and, with the tournament and season on the line, delivered in the clutch, winning the final game 11–7 to send the Tigers to the semifinals.

There was little time to breathe. That evening, the Tigers faced St. Catherine’s High School, a Cinderella team riding upset after upset. Once again, GFS leaned on depth. Devi Simons ’28, Ruger, and Rani Simons '29 each earned key victories. With the match hanging in the balance, Nirmul calmly sealed the clincher (9-11, 11-2, 11-7, 11-5), punching the Tigers’ ticket to championship Sunday.

And then came the stage everyone had been chasing. 

The Specter Center just felt different: two full glass courts anchor the heart of the complex, surrounded by 16 more, with every sound echoing and every point magnified. With fewer teams remaining, the energy shifted. The stakes intensified. The focus sharpened. Every rally carried a little more weight, every moment a little more meaning. The girls were playing on a court that was aptly named “The Carpe Diem Court”, and as the Tigers stepped onto the floor, the question lingered in the air: which team would truly seize the day?

Waiting for GFS was top-seeded St. Paul’s School. St. Paul’s had run through their first three matches having hardly broken a sweat, winning 5-2, 5-2, and 6-1. 

The Tigers didn’t blink. The closely contested games and comeback victories that got them to this final match had sharpened them into champions.  

D. Simons and Nirmul opened with back-to-back 3–0 wins, setting an early tone and making it clear to St. Paul’s that the Tigers were different from the others. Gehl followed with a hard-fought 3–1 victory to push the team within one match of the title.

That left senior captain Maggie Ruger.

Calm as ever, Ruger stepped onto the court with a chance to close out not just the match, but her remarkable seven-year GFS career. What followed was clinical. Thirteen minutes. Three games. A 3–0 sweep in which she allowed just six total points (11-5, 11-1, 11-0). 

When the final ball hit the tin, it was over. 

The Tigers were National Champions.

Ruger, who went a perfect 12–0 in games across the weekend and will continue her career at Columbia University next year, barely had time to step off court before her teammates rushed her in celebration. It wasn’t just a championship they were honoring. It was the culmination of years of leadership, trust, and shared belief.

Under the steady guidance of Coaches Lauren West and Chris Longman, this team leaned on one another all season. Different players stepped up at different moments. Freshmen delivered under pressure. Veterans steadied the ship. Everyone contributed. By the end of the weekend, that collective faith proved unstoppable.

Long after the cheers faded, one image lingered: Tigers gathered together, arms wrapped around each other as if blocking the outside world, leaving the one thing that mattered most in that moment; the team. 

The best teams win together. This one did exactly that.