Boys varsity tennis defeated Belmont Hill 6-1 at home on Wednesday, 4/3. This is the team’s first dual match win of the season and the first match played in our newly renovated indoor Pavilion. It was also special because Belmont Hill’s coach, Will Speer, was the former boys tennis coach at DA!
Despite playing with new partners across the lineup, DA swept all three doubles matches. At #2, Anthony Sparacio and Tai Feng served big and played solid tennis to win 8-3; juniors Walker Naughton and Tommy McMahon were dominant in their 8-3 victory as well. The doubles highlight goes to the #1 team of Ethan Li and Gunter Weldon, who battled back after a slow start against two very powerful players and logged a comeback tiebreak victory after finding themselves down 4-7. The duo competed hard, never lost hope, and showed great teamwork and positivity. Blix Salz and Christian Capella also won their exhibition match 8-3.
In singles, the Doors’ dominance continued with wins at spots 2 through 6. #2 Gunter Weldon, #3 Tai Feng, #4 Anthony Sparacio, and #6 Christian Capella all won in straight sets; #5 Walker Naughton boasted a huge comeback after losing his first set 6-0, winning the second set 6-0, and ultimately closing it out 10-7 in the third set superbreaker. At the #1 spot, Ethan Li played a very talented freshman and lost in straight sets despite competing incredibly hard.
Christian Capella and Tommy McMahon both found themselves in the lineup for the first time; not only were they victorious in their matches, they won confidently and convincingly.
The win puts the Doors at 1-1 on the season. Next up for the team is the annual KITT event at KO this weekend: four players will compete in singles draws, along with two doubles teams vying for the trophy. DA will then host KO at home on Wednesday, 4/10 at 2:30pm.
RESULTS
Singles order of finish: 2,4,5,3,6,1
- Morgan Rich (BH) def. Ethan Li (DA) 6-3, 6-3
- Gunter Weldon (DA) def. Ernest Lai (BH) 6-1, 6-3
- Tai Feng (DA) def. Ethan Sidman (BH) 6-0, 6-4
- Anthony Sparacio (DA) def. Carver Porter (BH) 6-4, 6-1
- Walker Naughton (DA) def. Aiden Lee (BH) 0-6, 6-0, 10-7
- Christian Capella (DA) def. Will Sandor (BH) 6-2, 6-2
(7. Blix Salz (DA) was leading Will Jones (BH) 5-3; 8. Will Greenhill (BH) def. Luka Kokosadze (DA) 8-2)
Doubles order of finish: 2,3,1
- Li/Weldon (DA) def. Rich/Sidman (BH) 8-7(6)
- Feng/Sparacio (DA) def. Lai/Porter (BH) 8-3
- Naughton/McMahon (DA) def. Lee/Sander (BH) 8-3
(4. Salz/Capella (DA) def. Jones/Nolan (BH) 8-3)