DA boys varsity tennis took down local opponent NMH 6-1 on Wednesday, 4/24 at home. The victory brings the team to a 4-3 record heading into the last few weeks of the season.
Playing in the Pavilion once again due to rain, the Doors were dominant in doubles, losing only two games across all three matches. #1 Li/Weldon and #2 Feng/Naughton both won their prosets handily 8-1; junior Tommy McMahon was back in the lineup along with senior Blix Salz, marking his first dual match appearance since his sophomore season. McMahon/Salz were relentless in their 8-0 victory at #3. In exhibition doubles, juniors Diffley/Kokosadze were battling but had to stop their match leading 6-5 to begin singles play.
Singles was impressive for the doors, including two double-bagels on courts 2 (Gunter Weldon) and 6 (Blix Salz), and equally dominant showings on court 3 (Tom Molson), 4 (Tai Feng), and 5 (Walker Naughton). As all those matches wrapped up, #1 Ethan Li was fighting back set after winning his first set 6-2 but finding himself down 1-5 in the second. He held and then broke serve to climb back to 3-5, but his opponent closed out the second set 6-3. In the deciding third set superbreaker, Li went down 2-7 but showed grit to battle back to 8-7; thinking his momentum would continue for two more points, Li’s opponent proved too steady and closed out the match 10-8.
The team will get a little break with no match scheduled this Saturday. After some rest and more training, DA will next take on Westminster in Simsbury, CT on May 1 at 3:30pm.
Results
Doubles order of finish: 3,1,2
#1. Li/Weldon (DA) def. Rodriguez/Tung (NMH) 8-1
#2. Teng/Naughton (DA) def. Chen/Huang (NMH) 8-1
#3. McMahon/Salz (DA) def. Chung/Ho (NMH) 8-0
Exhibition: Diffley/Kokosadze (DA) vs. Rathor/Coscollola (NMH) 6-5, deuce, match called
Singles order of finish: 2,6,5,4,3,1
#1. Paolo Rodriguez (NMH) def. Ethan Li (DA) 2-6, 6-3, 10-8
#2. Gunter Weldon (DA) def. Damon Tung (NMH) 6-0, 6-0
#3. Tom Molson (DA) def. Jaden Chen (NMH) 6-1, 6-1
#4. Tai Feng (DA) def. Aaryman Rathor (NMH) 6-0, 6-1
#5. Walker Naughton (DA) def. Ethan Huang (NMH) 6-1, 6-0
#6. Blix Salz (DA) def. Erik Coscollola (NMH) 6-0, 6-0
Exhibition: #7. Ryan Diffley (DA) def. Caleb Chung (NMH) 8-1
Exhibition: #8. Luka Kokosadze (DA) def. Curtis Ho (NMH) 8-3