Boys varsity tennis defeated Andover 4-3 in front of a large crowd of supporters on parent’s weekend. It is the first win against Andover since the 2015 season.
Doubles once against proved crucial to the win, and Deerfield managed to sweep all three courts. But matches were tight across the board, with all teams going neck-and-neck until the tenth game. From there, #1 Weldon/Kasumov and #2 Feng/Chen played confident, aggressive tennis to pull out simultaneous 8-5 victories and clinch the doubles point for DA. Not ten minutes later, #3 Juhas/Berg closed out their match 9-7.
With Andover only having seven players to compete, three Doors teamed up with their extra player for an exhibition doubles match. Mac Barry and Jack Webb competed against teammate Russell Fan and Will Chu; the Deerfield pair eked out a tight 9-8 win, although they only dropped one point as they dominated the tiebreaker.
The doubles gave Deerfield confidence heading into singles, and the team looked poised to win the first set on all six courts. Despite a 5-2 lead, #2 Tai Feng ended up dropping his first set while all other courts won theirs. All credit to Andover though, who continued to battle and show they were in it for the long haul.
With solid, determined play on courts #1, 4, and 6 (Weldon, Barry, and Juhas respectively), Deerfield secured straight-set wins on those courts to clinch the win. On courts #3 (Kasumov) and #5 (Chen), Andover was able to turn those matches around and send both to deciding third set breakers. Meanwhile, #2 Feng was in a tight second set himself, though ultimately fell in two straight sets. Neither Kasumov nor Chen were able to win their superbreakers, so despite having a 4-0 overall lead, the final score ended up 4-3.
In exhibition singles, junior Spencer Trees had a slow start in his first set. He almost rallied back to win it in a breaker, but ultimately it took all three sets to get his win.
The team celebrated the victory with a dinner down the street; many thanks to Tai Feng’s parents for hosting, and it was wonderful to be together with many families to enjoy the team’s hard work.
The boys will get a bit of a break this week, facing only Northfield Mount Hermon at home on Wednesday with no match over the weekend. It is a well-earned rest for the team!
RESULTS
Doubles order of finish: 2,1,3
#1. Weldon/Kasumov (DA) def. Shen/Richardson (A) 8-5
#2. Feng/Chen (DA) def. Shin/Liu (A) 8-5
#3. Juhas/Berg (DA) def. Nawracaj/Tejapaibul (A) 9-7
Exhibition #4. Barry/Webb (DA) def. Fan (DA)/Chu (A) 9-8(1)
Singles order of finish: 4,6,1,3,2,5
#1. Weldon (DA) def. Shin (A) 6-4, 6-4
#2. Shen (A) def. Feng (DA) 7-5, 6-4
#3. Richardson (A) def. Kasumov (DA) 2-6, 6-2, 10-4
#4. Barry (DA) def. Nawracaj (A) 6-2, 6-2
#5. Tejapaibul (A) def. Chen (DA) 2-6, 7-5, 10-6
#6. Juhas (DA) def. Liu (A) 6-4, 6-1
Exhibition #7. Trees (DA) def. Chu (A) 6-7, 6-1, 10-3