Boys varsity fell to Exeter 4-3 on Saturday, May 11 in the most exciting, hard-fought match of the season.
Deerfield started the day by stealing the doubles point from the Big Red with huge comebacks on courts 2 and 3. #2 Tom Molson and Tai Feng were down 1-4 before launching ahead 7-4 and eventually closing it out 8-5. Equally impressive was Anthony Sparacio and Blix Salz on court #3 who, finding themselves down 4-7, never gave up and changed the momentum to win in a tiebreaker and cinch the point for the Doors.
In singles, Gunter Weldon continued his excellent season in the number two spot by handily defeating a very solid opponent in straight sets. #4 Tai Feng was matched up against an aggressive baseliner and couldn’t find the offense to win, giving Exeter their first point of the day. Meanwhile, DA had clinched the first set on two other courts: #3 Tom Molson played aggressively to easily win his first set and #5 Anthony Sparacio started with a quick lead but had to fight hard to eventually win his first set in a tiebreaker. At, #1 Ethan Li fought back from 2-5 in his first set but ultimately lost it 6-4 while #6 senior Blix Salz, playing his first match in the lineup since his sophomore season, also lost his first set despite striking the ball really well.
Exeter refused to give up and was able to win second sets on courts 3 and 5 to level those matches; meanwhile Salz launched a massive comeback from a 1-4 deficit in his second set and took the set 6-4 to tie his match up as well. Though he ultimately lost his superbreaker 10-7, Salz showed what a competitor he is as he ran down ball after ball and forced his opponent to play great tennis to beat him. As Molson and Sparacio entered their deciding third set superbreakers, Li lost his second set 6-4, giving Exeter the match lead 3-2. The Doors needed to win both superbreakers to clinch the win and the tension was high!
Molson was the first to finish, playing gutsy tennis- the perfect mix of aggressive and defensive play- to win his match 11-9 and tie things up at 3 apiece. It all came down to Sparacio, and with all eyes watching and supporting, he and his opponent went toe-to-toe until 5-6 when Exeter was able to surge ahead and pull out the superbreaker, and match, for the Big Red.
In the lone exhibition match of the day, Luka Kokosadze had to dig in and compete hard and was successful in his contest 6-2, 5-7, 10-8.
Despite the loss, the team has so much to be proud of. Everyone played with so much heart, guts, and determination. It was a true demonstration of what team tennis could and should be!
With a record of 6-5 and vying for a bid into the NEITA team championships next weekend, DA will host its final regular season match of the season at home on Monday, 5/13 at 4:45 against Suffield Academy.
RESULTS
Doubles order of finish: 1,2,3
#1. Raval/Dai (E) def. Li/Weldon (DA) 8-2
#2. Molson/Feng (DA) def. Mullen/Shinn (E) 8-5
#3. Sparacio/Salz (DA) def. Chinsupakal/Tam (E) 9-8(5)
Singles order of finish: 4,2,1,6,3,5
#1. Kiran Raval (E) def. Ethan Li (DA) 6-4, 6-4
#2. Gunter Weldon (DA) def. Art Chinsupakal (E) 6-3, 6-1
#3. Tom Molson (DA) def. David Dai (E) 6-1, 6-7(2), 11-9
#4. Josh Mullen (E) def. Tai Feng (DA) 6-1, 6-1
#5. Hugo Shinn (E) def. Anthony Sparacio (DA) 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-5
#6. Steven Chen (E) def. Blix Salz (DA) 6-0, 4-6, 10-7
Exhibition: Luka Kokosadze (DA) def. Tejas West (E) 6-2, 5-7, 10-8
Livestream Links:
https://events.locallive.tv/events/146758