Sophomore Deepak Pathapati won his team-leading 20th match of the season, and Matthew Wuyan pulled off a big upset at second singles, but Deerfield ultimately fell 4-3 to Cheshire Academy on a mild Wednesday afternoon. Deerfield’s winning streak was stopped at seven, leaving the team 9-4 at the conclusion of the regular season. Cheshire won their seventh in a row to move to 10-1.
Cheshire played excellent doubles to clinch the point with wins in the first and second spots; it was the first doubles point Deerfield had lost since April 21. After Cheshire took a 2-0 lead with a win at first singles, Deerfield came storming back with victories from Wuyan, Pathapati, and Arthur Yao (who has won his last nine singles matches). However, Cheshire leveled the match at 3-3 with a win at third singles, leaving fifth singles as the last match on court. Down a set, Cosmo Hunt battled back to force a second-set tiebreaker, but was unable to close out the victory.
The team responded beautifully to adversity today, and can be proud of their play and competitive spirit. Thanks to senior Spencer Rosen and to JV coach Ben Demerath for supporting us through the very end of the match.
Deerfield now awaits its tournament fate; play will commence on Saturday morning. Stay tuned to @deerfieldtennis on Twitter for the latest updates.
Cheshire 4, Deerfield 3
Cameron Kania/Arnas Sabonis (C) d. Alfi Auersperg/Matthew Wuyan 8-4
Casey Kania/Kartik Erodula (C) d. Gideon Yektai/Cosmo Hunt 8-2
Deepak Pathapati/Adrian Yao (D) led Jacob Lebowitz/Shriram Murali 6-5
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Cas. Kania (C) d. Auersperg 6-4, 6-2
Wuyan (D) d. Sabonis 6-3, 6-1
Cam. Kania (C) d. Yektai 7-6 (5), 6-2
Pathapati (D) d. Erodula 7-5, 6-2
Lebowitz (C) d. Hunt 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Arthur Yao (D) d. Murali 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles 2,1; Singles 1,4,2,6,3,5