Boys varsity eked out a 4-3 win against Loomis on Monday. The duel began in Windsor, CT on 4/15 and was completed at Deerfield Academy on 5/4! A heartfelt thanks to Coach Megas and his team for their willingness to resume the match on our home territory after getting rained-out mid-match in April.
Doubles was completed on the original match date at Loomis; it was a hot, sunny day when competition began. Deerfield had strong showings at #1 (Weldon/Kasumov) and #3 (Juhas/Berg) to clinch the doubles point, which proved crucial in the win. #2 Feng/Chen had just gone up a break and were leading 6-4 when their match was stopped so that singles could begin.
With the sun still blazing, singles began with Deerfield looking as though they had the edge. After about 30 minutes of play however, it downpoured and drenched the courts. Scores were recorded in hopes of waiting out the rain; it was soon evident that it would be hours before the courts would be playable. With that, coaches shook hands and offered to find a day to resume play.
A few weeks later, Loomis kindly travelled north to DA to resume the singles matches as the scores stood. What a wild idea, and kudos to all involved for their willingness and flexbility! How lucky that it happened: singles couldn’t have been tighter, and it was a fantastic evening of competition at the courts.
#1 Weldon, #3 Barry, #4, Chen, and #6 Trees were all just halfway through their first sets as the matches resumed. #2 Kasumov was already down a set and a game, while #5 Juhas was up a set but down 0-1 in his second set. From there, Chen and Trees struggled to find their rhythms and dropped their matches, while Juhas had to battle in his second set but ultimately closed out his opponent 7-5. Kasumov fought back from 1-4 in his second set and got back on serve, but fell in straight sets. With Loomis now up 3-2 and just two matches remaining, Weldon and Barry showed why they’re such great competitors.
#1 Weldon closed out his match in straight sets, leaving all of the teams’ hopes for victory on #4 Barry, a freshman. Though he had dropped his first set in a tiebreaker, Barry stormed back to win his second set 6-2 to send the match to a deciding third set superbreaker. After an even start, Barry rose to the occasion, took a commanding lead, and ultimately won the breaker 10-4.
After the tough loss to Choate just two days prior, the team did a great job putting that out of their minds and getting back to work. With just one practice in between, Deerfield will take on Hotchkiss on Wednesday, 5/6 at home.
RESULTS
Doubles order of finish: 3,1
#1. Weldon/Kasumov (DA) def. Park/Torizzo (LC) 8-4
#2. Feng/Chen (DA) led Thanumanee/Meskin (LC) 6-4
#3. Juhas/Berg (DA) def. Zhou/Gill (LC) 8-3
Exhibition #4. Barry/Webb (DA) def. Xu/Werg (LC) 8-6
Singles order of finish: 6,5,2,4,1,3
#1. Weldon (DA) def. Park (LC) 6-4, 6-3
#2. Thanumanee (LC) def. Kasumov (DA) 6-3, 7-5
#3. Barry (DA) def. Meskin (LC) 6-7(4), 6-2, 10-4
#4. Zhou (LC) def. Chen (DA) 6-4, 6-1
#5. Juhas (DA) def. Torizzo (LC) 6-1, 7-5
#6. Xu (LC) def. Trees (DA) 6-3, 6-3