After a groundstroke from Brian Niguidula ’17 and a high return from his opponents from BB&N, Chase Denholm ’18 jumped in the air and volleyed the ball perfectly into the corner to win the point after a long rally. Denholm’s shot gave Andover Boys Tennis an edge in the final game of the second doubles match, which Andover would eventually capture with a score of 8-4. Andover, however, went on to lose 2-4 to BB&N.
On Wednesday, Andover’s 6-man team traveled away to BB&N after a change in location. The match was originally going to be played at Andover, but due to unplayable conditions the location was moved.
The match score did not reflect the team’s collective play, as Andover dominated in the doubles portion of the matchup.
Excited to start seasonal play, third seed doubles crushed BB&N 8-2. Two returning players, Jonathan Jow ’16 and Tyler Shen ’17, utilized their experience to overwhelm their younger opponents. Despite an attempted comeback from the BB&N players, Jow and Shen were able to consistently place their shots well and thus outlasted their opponents.
Denholm wrote in an email to The Phillipian, “Brian and I played very efficiently. We set each other up very well which allowed us to shorten points.”
In its singles matches, Andover did not perform as well. First seed Niguidala lost his match. Although the games were all very close, the BB&N player trumped Andover’s number one.
In the singles matchup between the schools’ second seeds, Captain Chris Kralik ’16 lost. Fourth seed singles and fifth seed singles were also defeated. The two, players, Denholm and Jow, were barely edged out.
Anupreeth Coramutla ’17 secured the only singles win of the day at third seed. Coramutla utilized his volleys to beat his opponent 6-1, 6-2.
Commenting on the team’s performance, Kralik said, “I think it was a good start. Definitely a lot to work on. For sure with singles we were a bit disappointed. I think first game of the season we were probably rusty.”
Andover remains excited for its next game despite the loss. Should weather conditions be permitting, the team will host Taft on Sunday.
