Boys varsity tennis defeated Groton 5-2 in their first away match of the year, putting the team at 2-1 overall on the season.
Deerfield clinched the doubles point with dominant play at the #1 and #2 positions. The freshmen pair of Juhas and Berg at #3 never found their rhythm and suffered their first loss of the season.
In singles, #6 Charlie Juhas breezed through his match to put DA up 2-0 while all other courts were deep in battle. Dima Kasumov, playing at #4, logged his first singles win of the season with an 11-9 super-tiebreaker win. Not long after, senior Tai Feng, at #2, bested his opponent in straight sets for a 3-0 lead; as #1 Gunter Weldon was trying to close out his very talented opponent, #3 Mac Barry fell in straight sets to give Groton their first point of the day. Meanwhile, #5 Jay Chen had stormed back in his second set after dropping a tight first. Just as Weldon secured the win for Deerfield, Chen entered a deciding third set super-breaker.
With all eyes on him, the freshman found himself leading 7-5, but all credit due to his opponent for pulling out some big shots and clinching the breaker 10-8 and giving Groton their final point of the match.
Many thanks to the Barry family for supporting and feeding the team on the road!
The boys will have a quick turnout and face Taft at home on Saturday at 3:15pm.
RESULTS
Doubles order of finish: 1, 2, 3
#1. Weldon/Kasumov (DA) def. Li/Zhang (G) 8-2
#2. Feng/Chen (DA) def. Stubbs/Flatz-Ehrfeld (G) 8-1
#3. Kelleher/Walter (G) def. Juhas/Berg (DA) 8-2
Exhibition #4. Barry/Webb (DA) led Garcia/Briggs (G) 7-4, unfinished
Singles order of finish: 6,4,2,3,1,5
#1. Gunter Weldon (DA) def. Li (G) 6-4, 6-2
#2. Tai Feng (DA) def. Zhang (G) 6-0, 6-3
#3. Flatz-Ehrfeld (G) def. Mac Barry (DA) 6-2, 6-3
#4. Dima Kasumov (DA) def. Stubbs (G) 1-6, 6-2, 11-9
#5. Kelleher (G) def. Jay Chen (DA) 7-5, 1-6, 10-8
#6. Charlie Juhas (DA) def. Garcia (G) 6-1, 6-0
Exhibition #7. Walter (G) def. Jack Webb (DA) 8-4
Exhibition #8. Anderson Berg (DA) def. Turvey (G) 8-4
Exhibition #9. Turvey (G) def. John Rousou (DA) 6-0