Varsity Basketball v Washington Montessori played on Wednesday December 17th, 2008

Game # 1 DDS vs. Washington Montessori

Dutchess Day Varsity Basketball loses their home opener 58-20

After a strong first quarter against WMS we were pretty even in score. Dutchess Day scored 10 points in the first quarter while only totaling 10 points the rest of the game. The second quarter WMS pulled away big with a 36 point lead. Washington Montessori's leading scorer R. Mennin had 20 points at the half and 30 in the game. The second half we changed defensive strategies and brought the game back to only 20 points. WMS just out hustled us and wanted to win. DDS felt that they were playing well in the beginning of the game but got discouraged by the point deficit. Kai was Dutchess Day's leading scorer with 8 points followed by Sean G. with 6 points which was made by two 3 point shots. Christian, Danielle and Roan all contributed 2 points each respectively. Danielle had a hard task by covering R. Mennin who was at least 4 inches taller than her.....she did a great job and was not intimidated at all. TJ, Sebastian, Jackson, John and Benjamin who also played to the best of their ability all got in the game to get some playing experience. Our next game will be after Christmas break and we plan as a team to improve game by game.

Squash Report v Westover on Wednesday December 17th, 2008

With sickness depleting our 14 strong squad, only 10 players made the one and a half hour journey to Westover in Connecticut. The journey was well worth it. Playing on some superb courts, we fought valiantly against Westover 3rd's. Our 5th grade beginners, Ellery, Henry,and Jack together with Hugo, were the first games on. Considering their lack of experience and young age compared with their opponents, they all played very well indeed. Hugo and Jack lost in 3 straight games but both got good points on the board against their opponents. Henry playing with much more confidence this time, narrowly lost the first two games, then won the third and finally lost the last game. It will not be long, however,until Henry gets his first victory. Ellery came even closer to winning her match, only losing out in a close five setter to a very strong opponent. With a little more practice on basic skills and a greater understanding of basic tactics, our younger players will improve tremendously! Apart from Lizzie,playing at #2 against arguably their best player, the rest of our team won their matches. Lizzie went down 3 games to 1, but played very well considering that, unlike the other team members, this was her first competitive game of the season. Alex at #5 is oozing confidence at the moment having discovered another racket sport that he is comfortable with. He dispatched his opponent with very little fuss in three short games. Andrew finally played to his potential, and despite dropping the third set, came through strongly. Denny and Hadley played very confidently this time and easily won their matches in three straight sets. This left Isabel to wrap up the tie, barely allowing her unfortunate opponent a point. We had time to play a few best of three games for our fifth grade beginners and Hugo and then make the long journey home. Thanks again to Sarah Stack for coming along to help coach and advise our players.

#1 Isabel Stack v Grace Buckles W 11-0, 11-4, 11-0
#2 Lizzie Quartararo v Bethaney Simmonds L 8-11, 4-11,11-8,3-11
#3 Hadley Stack v Sarah Kruger W 11-5,11-6,11-6
#4 Denny Smythe v Sarah Boyadjin W 11-9, 11-4, 11-6
#5 Alex Quartararo v Emma Volovski W 11-1, 11-6, 11-8
#6 Andrew Colangelo v Alanna Fitts W 11-1, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9
#7 Ellery Smith v Milcah Zeudie L 4-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-7, 3-11
#8 Henry THomas v Tenzin Laing L 10-12, 10-12, 11-7, 3-11
#9 Hugo Wasserman v Xufei Yang L 6-11, 5-11, 9-11
#10 Jack Bowmar v Ji Wan Park L 2-11, 3-11, 7-11

Final Score: Westover 5 DDS 5

Additional Games
Ellery Smith v Anna Eggert L 6-11, 4-11
Henry Thomas v Alu Pape L 12-14, 8-11, 9-11
Hugo Wasserman v Jillian Verzino L 14-16, 8-11
Jack Bowmar v Katie Hedbery L 7-11, 4-11

Results and report on squash game v Trinity Pawling played on Wednesday December 10th, 2008

With some of our squad unable to play, we took 11 enthusiastic players to the beautiful squash complex at Trinity Pawling School to play against their 3rds. (these are boys 9th grade and up who have not gained a place in the JV or Varsity teams). Some were as new to squash as some of our own players. Overall, the matches were played in excellent spirit and although we lost the majority of them, the players came away with a great sense of experience. Our 5th graders, Claudia, Henry, Ellery and Jack, were playing their first competitive match ever and all managed to secure points against their formidable opposition. Hugo and Andrew also found the going tough but tried hard to get points on the board. Alex too was up against strong opposition but after losing his first game by a narrow margin, he discovered the power of the drop shot and from then on never looked back, securing the next three games in fine fashion. Hanna, playing at # 4, came very close to winning her first game but then found the going harder as her opponent started to find a good length and finished strongly. Hanna, however, should be encouraged by the way she played. Denny, at # 3 played very well indeed and with her serve into the backhand corner doing alot of damage, she pushed her opponent to a 5 set match, only to lose the last game 10-12. With Lizzie out sick, Hadley had to step up to # 2. Her opponent was too strong for her, but she particularly played well in the 3rd game, narrowly losing it 11-13. Her serve was particularly useful in this game and she too should learn from this experience and should be encouraged by her performance. Finally, Isabel, playing at # 1, demonstrated why she is such a difficult player to beat. She polished off her opponent in three games, combining determination with a mix of accurate and powerful hitting. Overall, I was extremely pleased with how the DDS Squash team rose to the challenge. Well done every single player.

Results (DDS score first)
#1 - Isabel Stack v Skylar Weber 11-7, 11-3, 11-4 (DDS Win)
#2 - Hadley Stack v Jay Jung 2-11, 4-11, 11-13 (TP Win)
#3 - Denny Smythe v Tae Rang Kim 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 10-12 (TP Win)
#4 - Hanna Carlin v Jon Robideaux 9-11, 4-11, 4-11 (TP Win)
#5 - Andrew Colangelo v Wei Jiang 2-11, 5-11, 1-11 (TP Win)
#6 - Alex Quartararo v Greyson Bruwer 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-5 (DDS Win)
#7 - Hugo Wassermannn v Jason Lee 6-11, 2-11, 2-11 (TP Win)
#8 - Ellery Smith v Dan Meagher 1-11, 3-11, 0-11 (TP Win)
#9 - Henry Thomas v Parker Nelson 4-11, 7- 11, 1- 11 (TP Win)
#10 - Jack Bowmar v Mike Anderson 1-11, 1-11, 1-11 (TP Win)
#11 - Claudia Lamprecht v Rob Reiner 2-11, 4-11, 3-11 (TP Win)

Overall: Trinity Pawling won by 9 games to 2

Sports Schedule for week beginning Monday December 15th, 2008

Wednesday December 17th - Varsity Basketball v Washington Montessori (H)
(3:45 p.m. start - dismiss 3:10 p.m. - pick up 5:00 p.m.)

- Squash v Westover (A) ( 3:30 p.m. start. dismiss 1:40 p.m.
pick up 6:15 p.m.)

Sports Schedule for Week beginning Monday December 8th, 2008

Wednesday Dec 10 - Squash v Trinity Pawling School : Dismiss 2:45 p.m.
Start 4:00 p.m. Pick Up 6:00 p.m.

Thursday Dec 11th - Varsity Basketball v Trinity Pawling (H) : Dismiss 3:10 p.m. Start 3:45 p.m. Pick Up 5:00 p.m.