MANCHESTER, N.H. – An hour delay did nothing to slow the Derryfield School boys tennis team Thursday.
The fourth-ranked Cougars – forced to take the court late due to transportation issues for visiting No. 5-seed Dover – simply proceeded to do what it’s done all season: win.
And in doing so, Derryfield booked its spot in the Division I tournament semifinals.
But the the 8-1 victory didn’t come easy.
Derryfield head coach Mike Leary said his squad had to be patient and consistent to battle Dover’s “classic counterpunching style.”
“Overall, I am very proud of how the team played,” said Leary. “Dover was a tougher team than we thought, but we rose to the challenge and won the match in singles. While winning in singles is always the plan, this win was a testament to the hard work of the boys over the last couple of weeks. They are starting to realize their potential.”
Jack Schroeder, Derryfield’s top player, used his powerful serve and forehand to battle back from a 4-7 deficit against Dover’s Griffin Leach, but ultimately fell, 8-6.
That loss proved to be the Cougars’ lone setback of the day.
Davey Schroeder overcame a rocky start on court two to take control and cruise to an 8-2 victory over James Weete, while No. 3 Jack Krasnof endured a seemingly endless barrage of forehands from Dover’s Declan Sieks, but stuck it out and earned a decisive 8-5 win.
On the fourth court, Billy Gardner continued to display his season-best form, pulling Dover’s Judah Payeur into the net and using big groundstrokes to force errors en rout to an 8-4 triumph.
Logan Goldeberg, No. 4 on Derryfield’s ladder, began his long singles match trading deuce games and extended exchanges with Colby Bigelow before making his move at 4-3 to win the next four games and take the match, 8-3.
Jake Matarese, in his debut match on the singles ladder on the sixth court, won his first official match by breaking an early tie and winning six games in a row to earn the 8-2 win over Dover’s Gavin Chu.
Having already secured the quarterfinal win, Derryfield rode a swell of confidence past the Green Wave on the doubles courts with Schroeder and Schroeder taking an 8-3 win over Leach and Seeks, Krasnof and Gardner claiming an 8-4 triumph and Goldberg and senior Ben Brar shutting out Payeur and Chu, 8-0.
Up next may be the toughest test to date, a semifinal clash at undefeated top-seed Hanover.
The Bears soundly shutout eighth-ranked Keene, 9-0, to setup a rematch of an April 22 clash that saw them narrowly escape with a 5-4 win in their closest match of the season.
“As we look ahead to our match on Monday against Hanover, we know that we will have to play our best in order to win,” said Leary. “Hanover is an experienced team with depth and veteran players, but showed in our last match that they can be beaten. I only ask that the guys play their best and believe that they can win.”
That content is currently scheduled for 4 p.m. Memorial Day at Hanover High School.
