Sports

Boys Tennis Hopes to Build Upon Success

After a semifinal loss to Hotchkiss in last year’s semifinals of the New England tournament, the Boys Tennis team is ready to take the title this year. “We only have one goal, and that is to win the New Englands,” said Captain Trey Meyer ’09. Last season, Andover won seven matches and lost only two. Choate beat Andover in the regular season, and Andover lost to Hotchkiss in the New Englands. “I think we did pretty well last year, but we still need to improve,” said Meyer. Returning to help the team out in its endeavors are Meyer and Tony Zou ’09, both of whom played in last year’s top six seeds. Both players will be crucial for Andover’s success this year. Meyer looks forward to the team’s match against Milton because he has never had a win against them in his time here. Another experienced varsity returnee is Asa Harrington ’09, who looks forward to another solid season. The team this season looks very different than last year after losing several senior players, but it has been replaced with a mix of newcomers and steady veterans. “I believe this season will be better than last season because we have an overall stronger ladder,” said Meyer. One newcomer to the team, Mark Adamsson ’11, was ranked nationally in Sweden before he came to play in Andover, and will bring talent and experience to the ladder for the team. Michael Kontaxis ’11 and Hunter Schlacks ’11, from California and North Carolina respectively, also had high rankings back in their home states and are expected to have a wonderful season. Some players that have stood out are Myles O’Neil ’12 from Prides Crossing, Massachusetts and Max Png ’10 from Singapore. “I have been impressed by them so far,” said Coach Wilkin. Will Frank ’09 will also be returning to the team in 2009 after suffering a year-long injury last season. The team is putting in a lot of hard work in hopes of becoming undefeated. Meyer has already worked the team through conditioning by running the Borden gym stairs. This Wednesday, the team traveled to BB&N to play. The players had to adjust to the indoor court surface, which proved to be very difficult. It was a close match between the two teams, and O’Neil came through in the end with a win to secure Andover’s team victory. It was a thrilling match for the freshman. This Saturday, Andover will pack up their bags and head off to Taft for its next match.