The squad took down Westminster in a big 6-1 win on Friday, despite missing the talents of senior co-captain Carolina Conzelman and sophomore Esme Benjamin. Mr. Nilsson filled in as coach in Ms. Gonzales’ absence, and the team performed to their usual high standards of good sportspersonship and great attitudes.
The evens were up first. Current #2, senior co-captain Lilley Salmon, grabbed a tight 3-2 win over a tough opponent. Salmon won the first game 11-5, then lost 7-11, 10-12. She came back strong to secure a 11-6 win in the fourth game, and then the two players drew out the fifth game. Salmon played smart and won 14-12 in one of the most hard-fought victories of the day. At #4, junior Cameron Heard won 11-9, 11-4, 11-7, cranking out a 3-0 victory and giving Deerfield another point. Junior Isabella Geraci crushed her game at #6, winning 11-5, 11-4, and then an 11-1 blowout for a third Deerfield victory. The odds did their part to contribute, too: current #1, ninth-grader Talbot von Stade, narrowly lost her first game 9-11, but then grabbed two victories in a row (11-4, 11-8) before grinding out a 12-10 win in the fourth game to secure Deerfield’s victory for the day. Christina Li ’20, playing #3, traded tight games with her opponent, winning the first 11-9, losing the second with the same score, winning the third 11-4, and then winning a tough fourth game 11-9 for a fifth Deerfield point. At #5, junior Olivia Geraci went to 5 games once again. Her opponent came out strong with a 11-3 win over Geraci, who then got into her groove and won two games in a row, 11-8, 11-9. Westminster came back strong in the fourth game and got an 11-4 win, but Geraci rode out the difficulty and nailed down a 11-9 win for a sixth and final Deerfield point that day. Junior Cameron Garner had a tough loss at #7, dropping a tight game 9-11 to begin and gamely hanging on through a 3-11, 1-11 pair of losses.
In exhibition, senior co-captain Olivia Jones won 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 at the #8 spot, and Helen Mak ’20, in her first appearance for Deerfield, had perhaps the longest single game we will see this season: after an 11-9 victory, she and her opponent traded points until Mak finally got the win, 17-15! The final game went a bit more quickly, 12-10 to Mak.
With its undefeated record intact, Deerfield looks to reflect on its strengths and potential areas for growth this week in preparation for a rematch on Saturday on Westminster’s turf.