In its first home match of the season, Deerfield defeated the Taft School, five matches to two. The DA squad was without three of its top seven players, requiring it to look down its roster. The team responded tremendously. Kate Stenger, Megan Ng, and athlete-of-the-week Annalisa Fang stepped up to fill the roster spots and all won their matches in three games. Further showcasing its depth, Deerfield swept the four exhibition contests. Angel Zhou and Neha Jampala, playing squash interscholastically for the first time, used good placement and great court positioning to win blink-and-you’ll-miss-it matches. And Clara Chae, who was added to the schedule less than an hour before the event got underway, played at the end of the day with both teams crowded around the court, yet stayed cool under pressure and notched a victory in her competitive squash debut. Another highlight of the day was Marnie Todd’s first victory as the team’s top seed. She and her opponent swapped jaw-dropping serves, and she took the match by returning serve with rails that the Taft coach repeatedly called “gorgeous.” Deerfield now returns to sharpening its skills as it waits for the next challenge on its schedule, the February 5th match in Easthampton against the Williston Northampton School’s JV team.
Results:
- Marnie Todd: W, 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5
- Valentina Williamson: L, 9-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 7-11
- Kaitlyn Kelly: L, 11-2, 12-10, 7-11, 4-11, 7-11
- Lauren Stenger: W, 11-9, 11-5, 11-8
- Annalisa Fang: W, 11-4, 11-3, 13-11
- Kate Stenger: W, 11-6, 11-6, 11-9
- Megan Ng: W, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4
- Grace Stone: W, 11-8, 11-7 (exhibition)
- Angel Zhou: W, 11-2, 11-3 (exhibition)
- Neha Jampala: W, 11-3, 11-2 (exhibition)
- Clara Chae: W, 11-5, 11-9 (exhibition)