Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Wave Tennis Hits Playoffs


By Amanda Sload

            Monday (5/21), the Boys Varsity Tennis Team took on Ridgefield on indoor clay courts at the Ridgefield Racket Club due to rain. The unexpected surface adjustment added to the fierce competition of the Ridgefield team led to a loss for the Darien boys in FCIACs.

            The score of the match was 0-4. However, FCIAC rules suspend play after a team wins four matches. Because of this, the score does not accurately represent the team’s performance and how close the match really was, as it could have ended 3-4. In the first four matches to finish, in singles, junior captain Ryo Usami lost a tough match as the first seed, as did senior captain Briton Dailey playing number four singles and freshman Sammy Alptekin at number five. The first doubles team of juniors DJ Brown and Dom Hansford lost 2-6, 1-6.

            Despite these losses, the rest of the matches were in fact ahead when the match was suspended. Junior Alex Swords led after winning a set in a tie break at the number two singles spot, and in number three singles, senior captain Cal Kevorkian was up after winning the first set 6-3. The second doubles team of junior Nick Howe and senior Charlie Khachian was also up.

            Although the team lost, Usami is positive about the season overall. “As far as the season goes, we did much better than last year because we ended with a regular season record of 10-6, and made the FCIAC tournament.” This was an improvement from last year when they ended the regular season 8-8 and failed to qualify for FCIACs.

            The tennis team hopes to finish its season strong in States, which is an individual tournament. The team is sending four singles players, Kevorkian, Dailey, junior Jeff Sload, and Khachian. Three doubles pairs will also compete: Usami and Swords, Hansford and Brown, and Howe and junior Will McCoy.

            Wish the team luck as it heads to Yale for the first round of States on Thursday May 31st!


Pictured: Swords in action


Above: Howe, Usami, and Sload in the team’s away uniforms


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