The fellas were firing on all cylinders in our final match of the season. Needing a win to finish with an even record, we looked past the absence of our top three players and got out of the van ready to play. Christian led the charge once again with a gritty win at #2, squeaking out a tight second game and taking the third on his fifth match point. Avery, playing way up at the #4 position, calmly blasted his way to a win to put us up 2-0, and Charles shook off a loss in the second game to put a third win on the board.
Jason clinched it for us from the #1 position, and Nathan found a favorable matchup at #5, giving up a total of only seven points. In exhibition action, William played the closest match of the day – he solidly lost the first two games to a hard-hitting opponent, but gradually got used to the pace and was able to counter the attack. He won the last three games 12-10, 13-11, and 11-9 – a truly inspiring performance!
Not to be outdone, Justin was in a roller coaster battle of his own, going down 2-1 but saving his best for last. As Sai worked his way to a tight third game win and Protik notched his first win of the season (hooray!), it all came down to Ian, playing in a lineup position for the first time this year. Riding his incredibly accurate deep serve, Ian kept his cool in front of the big crowd, zipping around the court to cover as many shots as possible. He crushed a forehand crosscourt to end it, and just like that our season came to a close.
Regardless of the results today, everyone played very well – for several of the boys, it was their best match of the year. We finish 6-6, having improved tremendously, made and strengthened a number of friendships, and had a lot of fun. Attention now turns to exams; good luck to everyone, and thanks for a great season – I’ll miss working with you all.
Deerfield 7, Williston 0
Liu d. Cheney 11-5, 11-8, 11-3
Yiu d. DeMaio 11-4, 15-13, 12-10
Lui d. Touhey 11-7, 12-14, 6-11, 11-9, 11-4
Reed d. Markey 11-6, 11-3, 11-7
Hu d. Stenson 11-1, 11-3, 11-3
Shearon d. Mazile 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8
Gordon d. Johnson 11-6, 11-7, 11-8
Chang d. Johnson 6-11, 5-11, 12-10, 13-11, 11-9
Dulam d. Koumentakos 11-7, 11-8, 12-10
Nandy d. Greenbaum 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 11-1