Preston and Meredith Quick

Sibling Rivalry
The Story of a Squash Family, Quick-Style

By Amy Boytz

Meredith and Preston Quick

At this year's US Champs and Skill Levels, brother and sister Preston and Meredeth Quick both advanced through their respective draws—the SL Green and the Women's Open—at the same pace. First round. Quarterfinals. Semifinals. Finals. One week later, at the US Doubles Nationals, the same pattern emerged. Preston, playing with Jamie Bentley, and Meredeth, teaming with Dana Betts, were in the quarters. Then the semis. If they were trying to keep tally for a sibling competition, they sure were making this a neck-in-neck race.

The Quick siblings, Preston, age 24, and Meredeth, 22, grew up in Denver, Colorado. There, any sport of one's desire can be found—skiing, mountain biking, hiking, tennis, squash—and this brother and sister set certainly took advantage of the plentiful athletics.

“We've always been competitive, the two of us… in everything we do,” Meredeth Quick says, laughing. “It kept us working harder, trying to beat each other.”

Their father, E. Taylor Quick, is a squash loyalist and past president of the USSRA. He introduced both kids to squash, though Preston, two years the elder, started earlier. “I can't remember not playing. I can remember always having a racquet in my hand,” Preston says. When Meredeth saw her older brother successfully compete as a junior, she wanted to one-up him. “I grew up playing tennis,” Meredeth explains. “Then my brother went by himself to his first squash nationals and did pretty well. I thought, Hmm. I think this is something I want to try if he's doing so well.”

The two youngsters trained and frequently traveled to squash tournaments together. “Basically we were the only two junior squash players out here [in Denver]. We played adults all the time, so naturally we'd play each other and train with each other whenever possible. It was the only time we ever got on court with someone our own age!” Preston recalls. In 1994, both entered and won the junior nationals in their respective divisions—Preston in the BU17s and Meredeth in the GU15s. For that accomplishment, they appeared in Sports Illustrated. The sibling rivalry continued.

When it was time for college, Preston went to Trinity, then Meredeth, one year behind her brother in school, went to Princeton. Both joined the squash teams. Both were first team All Americans and played at number two their junior and senior years.

When Preston graduated in 2000, he took a job as the assistant squash pro at the Roundhill Club in Greenwich, CT. One year later, during sister Meredeth's senior year in college, Preston phoned her. “I don't think I'm going to do this job next year. Do you want to?” he asked. Meredeth accepted, taking her brother's place at the club. (Preston, in turn, spent the year giving a go to the pro squash tours and managing two websites, www.doublessquash.com and www.collegesquash.com.)

Preston plays on the PSA tour. Meredeth plays on the WISPA tour. Preston plays on the ISDA (doubles pro) tour, partnered with Eric Vlcek. Meredeth longs to play on a women's pro doubles tour, if such an animal would ever exist. Both Quick siblings are enthralled with doubles at the moment. Preston, in fact, thinks his doubles habit actually helped at this year's singles nationals. “I was a lot faster on the ball, attacking a lot more—just a little more of a doubles mentality,” he says. (Incidentally, father Taylor Quick, playing with John Vlcek, won the 60+ consolation round of this year's doubles nationals.)

Throughout the course of the national singles weekend, Preston and Meredeth could be found watching each other's matches intently. Preston coached his sister whenever possible; Meredeth rooted for her brother. It got to the semis before Meredeth realized where the Quick family stood in the lineup. “Wow, we're both here in the semis,” she thought. When it came down to the finals, the logistics got a bit difficult. Preston, whose SL Green final match was to immediately follow the Women's Open, had to juggle being able to watch Meredeth's match and also warm up and prepare for his own. Both eventually lost in three in the final to experienced champions: Preston to two-time SL Green winner Damian Walker, and Meredeth to three-time Women's Open winner Latasha Khan.

But both thought they were playing some of their best-ever squash. For Meredeth, who has not played in a nationals since her senior year in high school due to constraints of college and a competitive intercollegiate season, it was a good test of her playing level. To reacquaint herself with some of the gals she had not played since the junior days, and be able to measure where she stands against them, was satisfying. For Preston, reaching the final and playing well was sweet relief after bowing out after his first round at last year's nationals, due to a knee injury. “I felt like I finally did what I was supposed to,” he says.

Keep an eye on these two. Sibling competition is an unstoppable force. Next year, if one Quick walks away with the winner's trophy, the other is sure to tail close behind.

Preston and Meredith Quick

Sibling Rivalry The Story of a Squash Family, Quick-Style

Sibling Rivalry
The Story of a Squash Family, Quick-Style