Watch here: Courts 1 & 2 and Courts 3 & 4
This Saturday the Deerfield varsity boys squash team had a lot riding on the line. As the host school for the New England Class A tournament, the team needed a win to secure a place in this year’s event – and win they did, in epic fashion. In the first round, a gridiron performance from Youssef El Wabory ’25 eliminated his opponent’s every effort to the roar of a packed Deerfield crowd to snap up the first Deerfield victory! We ended up losing the number 6 position 1-3 and also the exhibition # 8 spot, but our own Hart Robertson ’26 used a high T position and volleyed his extremely fast opponent out of his comfort zone to round out the score line in our favor at 2-1. Only two more wins were needed in the second flight of matches, so it was up to our 7, 5, 3, and 1 players to lock in those last two. A tough loss at # 7 leveled the team scores at 2-2, meanwhile Read Kitchel’s opponent fought valiantly, yet ultimately had to retire due to a non-contributed injury, placing Deerfield one win away from Class A’s. Kyle Yang ’26 and Christian Capella ‘25 each stepped onto the stage, facing off with opponents of very close proximity in skill and experience. Kyle went up 2-0 after two incredibly close overtime sets, 12-10, while Christian and fellow top U.S. junior player Nathan Rosenzweig split at one game apiece. At this point the pressure was extremely high for St. Paul’s, who would need to win both matches to send Deerfield packing off to Class B’s for New England’s. At the number 5 position, Kyle Yang’s opponent dug deep into his reserves and won the third set, while Christian, bolstered by the crowd, locked in to snap up a 2-1 lead in his match. With the atmosphere at fever pitch, the home crowd’s attention focused on those last two courts, Kyle Yang recovered his nerve in the fourth set to win his match and clinch the win for the Big Green! The house now crammed even tighter as the home crowd put their hearts and glory days into tangible waves of support for Christian, who defeated Nathan in another very close set, 11-9. St. Paul’s were extremely tough and professional opponents, and we will now look forward to hosting them again, along with 6 more teams for New England class A’s on Feb. 10th.
Go Big Green!
Deerfield – 5
St. Paul’s – 2