Deerfield had another tight 3-4 loss to Loomis on Saturday. The girls hung tough through a brutal long-format match, with some truly valiant efforts taking place in tiebreak games and sets! The top two singles had a tough time, as Kendal Duff had to forfeit due to illness and Whitney Vogt, after a hard-fought 3-6 loss in the first set, dropped the second 0-6 to a skilled and agile opponent. Sasha Hinckley did an excellent job at #3 singles, winning the first set 6-1 and then persisting in the second, which was deadlocked at 3-3 when her opponent forfeited due to illness as well.
Julia Ferrante was the hero of the day, playing about 2.5 hours of tough tennis at #4 singles: she battled back from a 4-6 loss in the first set to deadlock the second at 5-5. Here, she managed to pull ahead and win two more games to force a tiebreak game, in which the first player to 11 points would be the victor of the day. Deerfield needed Julia’s point to stay in the match, and she pulled through for the Big Green, finishing up 11-9 for the win.
Down in doubles, #1 pair Acy Cai and Julithea Bewkes quickly found a rhythm despite having never played doubles together before — the two won the first set in an easy 6-2. Their opponents came back reenergized for a tougher second set, but Cai and Bewkes held on and pulled ahead at 4-4 to get a 6-4 win and give Deerfield a third point. Anne Brown and Ally Kell in doubles #2 had a hearty pair of opponents, who pulled off double 6-1 wins for a third Loomis point.
Deerfield’s fate was now in the hands of doubles 3, Cameron Heard and Liz Tarasi, who had an extremely long match to decide the day. Heard and Tarasi were up 5-4 twice, but both times could not get to the 6th game un-pursued by Loomis — they dropped the first set 5-7 to Loomis and then, in the second, went to a 6-6 tiebreak. This required a tiebreak game to decide whether a third tiebreak set would be played. Unfortunately Loomis pulled ahead early here and won the 7-point game 7-2 to give Loomis a win for the day.
Despite a rollercoaster of injuries and a long format, the Big Green stayed as strong and consistent as possible and feels positively about individual and collective progress made throughout the week! The team looks forward to a free Wednesday and what should be a well-matched contest with Choate on Saturday afternoon.