The Deerfield varsity girls held their long-awaited home opener on Wednesday with visiting Westminster. The team fought hard at every position to deliver a 6-3 victory. The score may make the match seem like a comfortable win, but that success was not easily earned. Many of these matches were hotly contested every step of the way by stiff competition from Westminster. Deerfield found itself in a hole after dropping two of the three doubles points. The team held together and rose to the challenge, winning five of the six singles points to secure the victory.
The first doubles pair, Ashley and Tori, fell behind early with Westy getting up 6-2 in the eight-game pro set. To their credit, Deerfield’s ladies found the grit necessary to pull even and force a tiebreaker at eight all. Ultimately, Westminster’s first doubles pair logged a win 8-6 in the tie-break. Sophia Genender and Emma Weech found their rhythm at second doubles, winning 8-4. Good things happen when these two settle into a match. Westminster took the third doubles set decisively, 8-1. At first singles, Ashley Manning put forth a heroic effort to score the W for Deerfield. Overcoming seriously tough breaks and a fair share of adversity, Ashley went the distance with her Westminster opponent and won in a third set tiebreaker, 10-7. Emma Weech put together a commanding performance at second singles, dispatching her singles opponent in two decisive sets. Sophia Genender had a thriller of a match at third singles. Both sets were back and forth affairs. Sophia dug in and refused to back down winning both sets: 7-7(7-5) and 7-5. Tori Waterfall continued her winning ways at fourth singles and picked up speed as the day went on. Her match was highlighted by steady baseline play and excellent strategy. She picked up the win 6-4, 6-1. Claire Koeppel’s fifth singles match was a three-set heartbreaker. She fought hard and traded 6-4 sets with her opponent in a well-matched contest. The third set tiebreaker went to Westminster by the fittingly tight score of 10-8. Closing out singles was Adeliza Grace with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win. The team won on the scorecard but more importantly demonstrated integrity on a day marked by intense competition. The team looks to an away match with The Taft School this Saturday at 3:30 pm in Watertown, CT.