The varsity girls were back in action on Wednesday afternoon at Phillips Andover Academy. The rain was pouring, but the teams were able to face off in Andover’s newly completed Snyder Center. Deerfield came ready to play and delivered the strongest tennis of their year. Despite this effort, the team came up short against the defending NEPSAC championship squad from PA. The final score is not a fair reflection of the intense competition and tightly contested individual match play. This match was far from a foregone conclusion, and the Deerfield ladies should be proud of their performance. After Andover swept the doubles points, singles got underway. Highlights of the day include Ashley Manning’s stunning three-set match at number one. This contest could have gone either way, but ultimately Andover prevailed in a third set tiebreaker 10-8. It was a similar story at number three: Sophia Genender took the first set with dominant ground strokes and an aggressive mindset. Dropping the second set, the players began a third set super tiebreaker. There was no shortage of drama as this affair went back and forth beyond ten points. In the end, Andover won the position 14-12. Tori Waterfall showed no quit at number four, playing the most competitive tennis she has all season. These were some of the most entertaining games of the day. Tori’s big first serve and fleet footwork kept her in this match every step of the way. After dropping the first set 4-6, she rallied to go up a break in the second set. Credit is due to her Andover opponent, who battled back, winning the second set 7-5. The team hopes to continue playing in the high gear it found on Wednesday as NEPSAC runner-up, Hotchkiss, is slated to visit on Saturday. The team drops to 4-2 with about three weeks remaining in the regular season.
Individual Results:
Doubles:
Manning/Waterfall: L 5-8
Weech/Genender: L 4-8
Chen/ Llorente: 2-8
Singles:
Manning: L 7-5, 3-6, 8-10
Weech: L 2-6, 0-6
Genender: L 6-4, 2-6, 12-14
Waterfall: L 4-6, 5-7
Koeppel: L 2-6, 0-6
Grace: L 1-6, 2-6