In any athletic conquest, losses are an inevitable part of the journey to greatness. However, this does not mean that these losses are any easier to digest. But the only thing that teams can do is to learn from their mistakes and move forward to make sure that such mistakes are not repeated. On October 22nd, 2022, a majority of Deerfield teams made the substantial trek up to Exeter, New Hampshire for an athletic conquest against Phillips Exeter Academy, but not a single team was able to return with a win.
Deerfield Academy has traditionally been seen as a school with some of the strongest athletic programs in the country. With the football team that won the Mike Silipo Bowl last year as well as a volleyball team that won the New England Championship, Deerfield has seen an almost unsustainable dominance for its fall sports. With such athletic success comes the scrutiny and focus of other teams as they gain the will to knock down the most dominant teams in an attempt to become the leader of the pack. Varsity Football, though filled to the brim with talent, had a slow start to the season, losing their first two games before bouncing back with two wins. Coming off of a loss against Loomis Chaffee, the team stood with a record of two losses and three wins as they entered the game against Exeter. Yet these hopes of bouncing back did not come to fruition as the Big Green fell against the Exeter Lions. With a game almost wholly controlled by the Exeter team, Deerfield had little chance of breaking through the Exeter defense and struggled to stop the scoring of their opponents. Though the Deerfield team is undoubtedly talented, especially the younger students, it seems as though they do not have the discipline that is required for a successful team.
On the other hand, Deerfield Volleyball has seen great success in their campaign this year, mirroring their championship win from last year. As the #3 seed in the tournament last year, Deerfield was able to pull through, with all members of the team contributing to the incredible result: Deerfield’s first ever NEPSAC Class A Championship Win. This season, the team got off to a blistering start, winning 10 games in a row with most of these wins attained without dropping a single set. On this particular Saturday, however, Deerfield was coming up against another incredible talented team. The Phillips Exeter Girls Volleyball squad was another undefeated team coming into the match, and only one of the teams would walk away with their undefeated record intact. With a strong start to the match, the Exeter team was able to take the first set, a situation that Deerfield had yet to face this season. The Big Green had only dropped one set up to this point in the season but had always taken the opening set. This put the Deerfield team in untested, uncharted territory as Exeter was likely the best team they had yet to face. With momentum as well as the home court advantage, Exeter was able to take the second set as well, marching to a 2-0 set lead. Though Deerfield attempted to rally and push back, their efforts were only able to delay the loss. While Deerfield took the third set, Exeter took the fourth, cementing the Deerfield loss in stone and eliminating the hope for an undefeated season for Deerfield.
Deerfield athletics faced an incredibly tough weekend as not a single team was able to return from New Hampshire with a win under their belts. Yet the Deerfield spirit is not to be deterred as teams look to the future and their coming battles against various schools as the fall season comes to a close. Many of the teams that traveled to Exeter learned much about both their strengths and weaknesses. Using the lessons learned from such a difficult loss, many of the Deerfield teams seek to bounce back and end the fall season with gusto.