While many boys tennis teams across the state were crossing their fingers for decent weather during the weekend, Deerfield made a trip to Louisville to get some work in.
The Warriors opened play in 25-degree weather but it was worth it as they placed eighth in the 16-team A division of the DecoTurf High School Tennis Team Championships Friday and Saturday. It’s the third time in the past four years the Warriors made the trip to Kentucky and took fifth in 2010 and second in 2011.
Deerfield was 1-3 against some of the best teams and players in the nation.
“It didn’t matter if we were 1-3 or 3-1, this was a chance to play against strong competition,” Deerfield coach Josh Leighton said. “We had a chance to play some different people who we’re never going to see. That’s good for these guys. They don’t know anything about their rankings or history. It gave us a chance to learn some things about the guys.”
Senior Toby Ma, the Warriors’ No. 1 singles player, went 4-0 in his matches and made the all-tournament team. He is an elite state player who would love to follow in the footsteps of former teammate Jason Brown, who won the Illinois High School Association state individual title in 2012.
“I think this year there are probably five to eight guys who are all very close and have a shot and Toby is in that mix,” Leighton said. “They can all beat each other. It will all depend on who is able to put those matches together in the state tournament.”
In Louisville, the Warriors opened play beating Davis of California, 8-1.
Ma, Jack Kasbeer, Harrison Crist, Noah Rosenblat and Chris Casati won at singles while Ma-Kasbeer, Crist-Rosenblat and Andrew Pekin-Sam Sylvan won at doubles.
The Warriors dropped a second-round heartbreaker to Barron-Collier of Florida, 5-4. Ma, Kasbeer, and Crist won in singles and Ma-Kasbeer won in doubles. Barron-Collier went on to finish second the tourney.
In the third round, the Warriors were stung 7-2 by St. Xavier of Louisville.
Ma was the lone singles winner while Andrew Pekin-George Vanderklunt won in doubles.
In the seventh-place match, the Warriors were tripped up, 7-2 by Baltimore’s Mount Saint Joseph. Ma and Tim Klabian won at singles.
“It’s a great tournament and I don’t know of any tournaments with that type of talent, even if you took the top 16 teams in Illinois,” Leighton said. “When it’s all said and done, we lost to the Kentucky state champion, the Florida State champ and the Maryland state champ. Those are our three losses. There is nothing to hang our heads about.”
The only other Illinois team in the tournament, Hinsdale Central, claimed first place.
Illinois teams have done well at this tournament in recent years. New Trier won the title in 2011 and 2012 but didn’t participate this year.
