The Andover Boys Tennis team hosted Milton on Saturday, but despite a win from Foster Jebsen ’08 and strong performances across the board, Andover lost 6-1. On Monday, PA played Andover High School at home and cruised to a 7-2 win. On Saturday, Andover encountered the toughest opposition it has seen this season and succumbed 6-1. This is not to say, however, that the match was not competitive; Andover battled ferociously in every match and came so close to victory in several individual matches that a team win remained possible until near the end. The match got off to a positive start when Matt Schubert ’07 and Andrew Chan ’08 rolled to an easy victory at third doubles. Andover went on to lose at both first and second doubles, which gave Milton the doubles point and the momentum going into the singles matches. Captain Wagman did not have a particularly strong showing at number one. He finished his match first, losing 6-1, 6-1. “My opponent was very strong, and I may not have beaten him in any case, but I could have played better,” said Captain Wagman. Now down 2-0, Andover needed to win four of the remaining five matches in order to secure a team victory. Michael Li ’06 went down soon after Captain Wagman, however, losing 6-1, 6-1 number two. Jebsen was the next to finish. After squeaking out a tight first set victory, he breezed through the second set, moving his opponent around the court and hitting punishing forehand winners. He won 6-4, 6-3. Chan, however, had quite a different experience at number six, where he lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Despite having won the first set somewhat handily, he was unable to maintain the same level of play in the final two. This outcome turned the tide in favor of Milton and secured the match in their favor. Both Trey Meyer ’09 and Schubert, playing at numbers three and five, respectively, had split sets with their opponents. Because the match had already been decided, they played ten-point tiebreakers to decide the third sets. Though both Meyer and Schubert fought hard, each lost 10-6 in the tiebreaker, and Milton came out with a 6-1 triumph. On Monday, Andover played a scrimmage against AHS. Andover won handily by a score of 7-2. AHS grabbed both first and sixth singles, but Andover won easily everywhere else.
