Squash Announces Five Signees for Class of 2027
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia squash program will add five first years to its roster for the 2023-24 season. The UVA men’s team will welcome three new faces to its lineup, with Arhan Chandra (Sugar Land, Texas), Krishna Mishra (Indore, India) and Dylan Moran (Dublin, Ireland) all slated to enter in the fall. On the women’s side, the Cavaliers will add a pair of nationally ranked junior players, as Nili Sprecher (Rye Brook, NY) and Clare Minnis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) sign on with the UVA class of 2027.
Arhan Chandra – Sugar Land, Texas – Stephen F. Austin High School
Chandra has been ranked in the top ten in the United States in the U13-U19 age divisions and is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation. Over the 2022-23 season, he posted two top-five finishes in Junior Championship Tournament play and placed No. 6 overall at the 2023 US Junior National Championships. Chandra has competed in two PSA Satellite Tour events, the 2023 Life Time Plano Dallas Open and the 2022 HSC Championships, where he advanced to the semifinal round. His tournament titles include the Midwest JCT (2021, BU17 Division) and the Cincinnati Junior Gold (2021, BU17 Division). In March, Chandra was presented with the Boy’s 2023 DeRoy Sportsmanship Award during the 2023 US Squash Junior Awards Night at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center. Created in 1998 through the support of the DeRoy Testamentary Foundation, the DeRoy Sportsmanship Award honors the high school senior who displayed exemplary behavior on and off the court, while competing at a high level of junior squash.
Krishna Mishra – Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
A 2023 graduate of the Delhi Public School, Indore, Mishra is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in India. As a member of the Junior National Team, he helped lead India to a second-place finish at the 2023 Asian Junior Team Championships and a fifth-place finish at the World Team Championships in 2022. Mishra reached the round of 16 in both the 2023 British Junior Open and in the individual draw at the World Junior Championships; he also took a tenth-place finish at the US Junior Open in 2021. He was recognized as Delhi Public School’s Best Sportsperson in 2018 and in 2019 and served as Deputy Head Boy of School and Head Boy in his junior and senior years, respectively.
Dylan Moran – Dublin, Ireland
Moran is the top-ranked junior player in Ireland and has been ranked as high as No. 21 in the world in the BU19 age division, according to the US Squash Universal Ranking system. He represented his home country as a member of the Junior National Team at the 2022 World Junior Team Championships (ninth-place finish) and in the 2023 European Team Championships (fourth-place finish). Moran took the Sheffield Silver Junior Open title in 2021 (BU19 division) and finished in the top-five at the 2022 Dunlop Manchester Silver Junior Open and the 2023 German Junior Open. He reached the quarterfinals of the US Junior Open in 2022 and so far in 2023, he has turned in notable performances in the individual draw at the European Team Championships (third round) and the open division at Irish Nationals (last sixteen).
Nili Sprecher – Rye Brook, N.Y. – Blind Brook School
A 2023 graduate of Blind Brook School, Sprecher is ranked No. 5 in New York and No. 19 nationally. She qualified for the US Junior Closed Championships in 2021 and 2022, earning a finish position within the top ten on both occasions. Sprecher recorded a total of six top-ten finishes in Junior Squash Championship events across the GU11-GU17 age divisions. Her junior tournament titles include a New York Junior Regional Squash Championship (2021, GU17 division), a Mid-Atlantic JCT crown (2021, GU17 division) and a Silver Nationals Championship (2018, GU15 division).
Clare Minnis – Bryn Mawr, Pa. – The Agnes Irwin School
Minnis held the top spot on the ladder for the Agnes Irwin School for two consecutive seasons (2021-23) and was named team MVP for the 2022-23 season. She was team captain as a senior and helped lead the Owls to a final ranking of No. 3 in the nation after a third-place finish at the 2023 US High School Squash Championships. Minnis earned US Squash Scholar Athlete recognition in all four years of her high school career and was a first-team Inter-AC All League selection as a senior. She qualified to compete in three US Junior Closed National Championships (2021-2023), taking a top finish of tenth place in the 2021 event.