The boys tennis team won a hard-fought victory in the quarterfinals of the state tournament against Wilmington High School. Over in Reading, the girls tennis team saw their championship aspirations come to an end with a quarterfinal loss to Austin Preparatory School.
The fifth-seeded boys team beat the fourth-seeded Wilmington team 3-2. While the three winning matches finished before the two losses, the day still ended with an epic duel at first singles that lasted late into the afternoon.
At first singles junior Jacob Riis lost to Anay Gandhi 5-7, 7-6, 8-10; at second singles junior Clyde Smith lost to Anuj Gandhi 3-6, 6-2, 4-6; at third singles freshman Zak Potter defeated Owen Mitchell 6-1, 6-1.
The Vineyarders did better in the two doubles matches, with first doubles junior Tegan Myers and freshman Caleb Dubin not losing a single game to Sarthau Tripithi and Eric Parker. Second doubles won in a similarly strong performance. Freshmen Volkert Kleeman and Kyle Levy beat Ryan Weinstein and Micheal Smarde 6-3, 6-3.
Head Coach Jonathan Bates praised his team for punching above their weight.
“A good match overall, we are very excited that we were able to beat the fourth seed as the lower seed,” Coach Bates said. “It was an exciting [game], albeit nerve-wracking. You could tell there were nerves on both sides. It was nice that our boys were able to pull through.”
In the girls match, the sixth-seeded Vineyarders lost to the third-seeded Cougars 5-0. Although they were shut out, the girls team gave it everything they had, capping off an impressive season with tenacity and grit. The team finished the year with a dominant 19-2 record.
At first singles sophomore Hunter Tompkins lost to Alexa Schiela 4-6, 4-6; at second singles Junior Cali Giglio lost to Caitlin Connors 3-6, 3-6; at third singles Kavinne Nivala lost to Hellens Trojer 0-6, 2-6.
At first doubles, Andrea Morse and Tessa Hammond lost to Kylie McDonald and Kate Millet 2-6, 1-6. At second doubles, Evelyn Brewer and Ellie Pennington lost to Ali Kennedy and Really O’Connor lost 3-6, 3-6.
For Coach Bill Rigali, the loss didn’t overshadow a season filled with success, including winning the Cape and Islands Championship.
“We lost, it was a tough team and it was a very good team,” Coach Rigali said. “We played good hard matches, we just couldn’t finish off any of the sets. We lost 5-0 but we kept them out there for a couple hours.”
The boys team plays its semifinal match against Wayland High School on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Somerset Berkley Regional High School.
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