After falling to Germantown Academy, 5-2, in their 2023 Inter-Ac League tennis opener on March 21, the Blue Devils of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy hoped they could do better against the Patriots.
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After falling to Germantown Academy, 5-2, in their 2023 Inter-Ac League tennis opener on March 21, the Blue Devils of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy hoped they could do better against the Patriots in their April rematch.
However, the timing of this second meeting diminished the chances of that happening. All last week, the Devils played without their regular first doubles duo and one of their fourth doubles athletes. The three players were out of town helping represent SCH in a robotics competition.
Without the 'bot boys, the Blue Devils lost at GA on Thursday, 6-1. However, the shorthanded squad did manage to defeat Penn Charter two days before that by a score of 5-2.
SCH left GA on Thursday with a record of 2-3 in the Inter-Ac and 3-6 overall. The Patriots climbed to 4-1, 3-1, with their only loss being a 2-5 setback against undefeated league leader Haverford School.
SCH has a trio of sophomores in the singles flights, and number one Andrew Blum, number two Drew Sharon, and number three Ethan Eckert each won in straight sets in Tuesday's match against PC. The Blue Devils had junior David Xin and senior Sam Miller capture the first doubles match, while junior Cole Benner and sophomore Dylan Kaplan prevailed at fourth doubles.
Visiting Penn Charter picked up its two wins at second and third doubles. Overall, there was little suspense regarding the outcome as SCH won each of the first four matches to be completed, clinching the team victory.
Due to the Blue Devils' personnel shortages last week, Benner and Kaplan had actually been brought up from the JV squad. As it turned out, they would be the ones who prevented SCH from being swept by the Patriots on Thursday. They were last to finish, and GA had already collected its six match wins.
Like the Devils, the Patriots have no seniors in the singles spots. At number one, junior Armon Meinstein beat Blum, 6-0, 6-3. The other four singles positions for the two schools were all filled by sophomores, with GA number two Aiden Swartz securing two 6-1 sets against SCH's Sharon, while Alex Katzer won in the third flight over Eckert, 6-1, 6-0.
At first doubles, visitors Xin and Miller went up against Germantown junior Max Baer and freshman Vincent Zhou, who won 6-2, 6-1. In the second flight, GA juniors Taran Kaistha and Chase Goldoor emerged victorious against SCH seniors Dillon Frankel and Pete Guagliardo, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
Scores of 6-1, 6-3 favored Patriot sophomores Liam Kelly and Ben Getson over senior Hayden Curry and junior Will Kolmar of the visiting side. Playing against sophomore Yosh Kandanuru and freshman Alex Wang of Germantown Academy until late in the afternoon, Benner and Kaplan were able to salvage the fourth doubles match for Springside Chestnut Hill, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).