Boys varsity tennis fell to Brunswick 4-0 in the first round of playoffs on Saturday, May 17. Brunswick went on to win the Class A title, defeating Noble and Greenough School followed by Andover in the finals. While it’s always disappointing to lose, there was some superb tennis played throughout the match, and getting to compete at home one last time was a special way for the five seniors to end their high school careers.
Brunswick had strong doubles teams across all three courts, and #2 and 3 outhit our boys. #1 Weldon/Li came out hot and took a 3-0 lead with aggressive, confident doubles before Brunswick found their footing and battled back to 4-4 when the match was stopped.
As singles got underway, things looked more promising. Though #4 Tai Feng and #5 Walker Naughton found themselves down early, the other four courts either took a lead (#1 Gunter Weldon went up 4-1 and #6 Tommy McMahon dominated his first set 6-1), or were battling evenly (#2 Ethan Li and #3 Anthony Sparacio). While Weldon’s opponent staged a comeback to take their first set 6-4, Li’s opponent pulled away with their first set and Sparacio dropped his in a breaker. Feng and Naughton’s opponents were too tough and closed out their second sets, putting the Bruins up 3-0 and needing just one more match to clinch. Next to fall was Sparacio who, despite the close first set, fell 6-0 in the second, clinching a semi-final birth for Brunswick and ending our season.
It was a great season overall, with highlights coming from the KITT victory, George C. Shafer Sportsmanship Award in Philadelphia, and an impressive 9-3 dual match record. Only two teams were able to win the doubles point against us all season; more importantly, the camaraderie among the team and between many of the teams we played was second-to-none. As we look forward to the future of the program, we will miss our seniors and all that they brought to our team. We wish them nothing but the best as their futures unfold- which hopefully includes a lot of tennis!
Results
Doubles order of finish: 2,3
#1. Weldon/Li (DA) vs. Zimmerman/Sieg (B) 4-4, match stopped
#2. Dombrovskyi/McCutcheon (B) def. Feng/Naughton (DA) 8-2
#3. Mouille-Berteaux/Burke (B) def. Sparacio/McMahon (DA) 8-0
Singles order of finish: 5,4,3
#1. Gunter Weldon (DA) vs. Caleb Zimmerman (B) 4-6, 1-3, match stopped
#2. Ethan Li (DA) vs. Vlad Dombrovskyi (B) 2-6, 2-5, match stopped
#3. Seb Mouille-Berteaux (B) def. Anthony Sparacio (DA) 7-6(1), 6-0
#4. Jack Sieg (B) def. Tai Feng (DA) 6-0, 6-1
#5. Jamie McCutcheon (B) def. Walker Naughton (DA) 6-1, 6-2
#6. Tommy McMahon (DA) vs. Tyler Burke (B) 6-1, 2-6, match stopped