Deerfield zipped down to Loomis on Saturday afternoon for a quick victory, adding a third win to its record for the season!
The evens stepped on court first and took care of business! #2 Daly Baker ’22 got going right away and won 11-3, 11-4, 11-7 for Deerfield’s first point. Senior co-captain Olivia Geraci did similarly at #4, winning 11-6 at first and then grabbing a pair of blistering 11-2, 11-3 wins for another Deerfield point. Senior Tori Waterfall was unlucky at #6 but made her extremely tough opponent work hard for the win, fighting admirably in her 1-3 loss (12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 10-12).
The odds continued to add to the win tally! At #3, senior co-captain Cameron Heard and her opponent were absolutely neck-and-neck each game, but Heard stayed focused and ground out three wins, 14-12, 12-10, and 11-9 for a fourth Deerfield point! At #5, senior co-captain Isabella Geraci went 11-3, 15-13, 11-3 with her opponent for yet another 3-0 Deerfield win. Junior Janis Chen, finishing out the top 7, went for gold and wore her opponent down with each match, winning 11-6, 11-5, 11-4! Last but not least was sophomore and #1 Talbot von Stade, who played an absolutely fantastic match against a challenging opponent. Von stage fell 8-11 in the first but maintained a cool head to win 11-4, 11-9 in the next two games. In the fourth game, though her Loomis opponent continued to try to frustrate von Stade with viciously well-placed drop shots, von Stade got to each ball in time and put away the match with a number of powerful, beautiful drives! Overall, Deerfield was 6-1 in the top 7 for the day, securing the win with efficiency and good grace.
In exhibition, Deerfield had a perfect day. Junior and #8 Helen Mak won in three. Playing best two out of three games, #9 sophomore Emma Johnson won 2-1, and ninth grader Isha Rao, at #10, won 2-0! Sophomore Daisy Dundas was the true sportswoman of the day, not only winning her own match at #11 2-0 but generously playing two extra matches at #12 and #13 against Loomis. Dundas ended up winning six games and losing zero that day, not to mention showing her true love for the game of squash and her desire to take advantage of every possible opportunity to improve!
The team eagerly anticipates its first home match of the season on Wednesday afternoon against Groton and hopes for another strong showing before winter break.