MIDDLETOWN – Wilmington Friends’ Aubrey Nisbet and St. Andrew’s Allaire Berl exchanged shots for two hours and 29 minutes Wednesday.
Finally, Nisbet ended it with an ace to earn a 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-4 victory in the girls first singles final at the DIAA Tennis Championships at St. Andrew’s.
Nisbet, ranked among the nation’s top junior players the last few years, had beaten Berl 6-4, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-4 in two regular-season matches.
But this time was a different story as Berl – pumped up by a raucous crowd of many of her classmates – won the first set in a tiebreaker.
“Allaire really came out firing. I thought she played really well, especially in the first set,” Nisbet said. “I had a good start, and then I just kind of let it go a little bit.”
But Nisbet, a junior who won this title as an eighth-grader in 2019 before spending time at tennis academies in Florida and Maryland, relied on her experience to turn the tide.
“I think it was my mindset,” she said. “I just knew that I was going to win, and to do that I just had to step up my game a little bit.”
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Berl, a senior playing in her first state final, was still thrilled to give her friends plenty of moments to cheer.
“My goal was to win a set off of her, so that happened and I’m really proud of myself,” Berl said. “She’s obviously a really good player. I enjoyed every moment of it.”
Nisbet’s victory also helped Friends to the girls team title for the first time in school history. Senior Alexis Montana also won the second singles crown for the Quakers.
“It’s very exciting for all of the girls that put in all of the work,” coach Ken Dill said. “I’ve been coaching for 20 years at Friends and it’s my first one, obviously, so it’s fantastic.”
Archmere sophomore Andy Zhu won for the second straight year in boys first singles, riding an early service break to a 6-0, 6-1 sweep of Caesar Rodney senior Darin Jawahar.
“I started out consistent. I held my serve, which was a good sign,” Zhu said. “And then I got a break and I got the momentum, and I guess it just kept going from there.”
Tower Hill was strong across the board in winning its third straight boys team title. The Hillers got victories from Constantine Moutsatsos at third singles, Matthew Heinle and Demetrios Moutsatsos in first doubles and Jack Allen and Samuel DeSantis in second doubles.
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Ben Chen of boys team runner-up Charter of Wilmington defeated Tower Hill’s Drew Allen in the second singles final.
“Top to bottom, our guys, they push each other super hard every day in practice,” Hillers coach Jared Klose said. “They really prepare each other for the toughest challenges they’re going to get at the end of the season.”
Caesar Rodney freshman Ava Vu won the girls third singles title. Evelyn Parsonage and Caroline Peach combined to win girls first doubles for Ursuline – a first in school history.
Zoe Clowney and Georgia Davis of girls team runner-up St. Andrew’s earned the crown in second doubles.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ
