Captain and first seed Anupreeth Coramutla ’17 slammed an overhead volley into the back corner to secure Andover Boys Tennis’ match against Phillips Exeter Academy 6-1 on Wednesday. Coupled with a 4-0 win against St. Paul’s on Monday, the team’s overall season score now stands at 5-2.
The team competed against St. Paul’s with swift and routine wins across the board, according to Coramutla. Both the second seeded doubles pair, Will Way ’17 and Nash Johnson ’20, and third seeded doubles pair, Tyler Shen ’17 and Sean Kralik ’19, defeated their opponents 8-1.
Additionally, Coramutla got off to a strong start and cruised to an easy finish with a tally of 6-1, 6-0. Second seed Chase Denholm ’18 beat his opponent 6-0, 6-0 and fifth seed Johnson defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-1. Because of the late start and inconsistent weather conditions, Andover decided to call the game when the team won the majority of the points.
Coramutla said, “Now that we’re hitting the middle of the season, the team is playing each match at a high level. Chase is dominating from the baseline using his groundstrokes, Will is using his net game and big serve to close out points, Nash is using his slice and great placement to out hit his opponent, Hayden [Gura ’20] is using his net game, and Tyler is using his heavy forehand to outplay his opponents. I feel really confident going into the final stretch of our season.”
Shen added, “I think our team is starting to settle into a groove on the court, and that really showed against St. Paul’s. In the end, we just simply out rallied them with solid wins across the board. I think the team did a great job of staying focused in difficult weather conditions and closing the match out before the rain could interfere.”
Battling strong winds and difficult weather conditions against Exeter, the team showed strong sportsmanship and mental toughness, according to Kralik. Andover secured the doubles point with 8-4 wins from both first seeded doubles pair, Denholm and Coramutla, and second seeded doubles pair, Way and Johnson.
Kralik said, “We were all very focused and worked on the areas that we needed to improve, with specific techniques or strategies for each player. We were really excited to finally be able to play a home match and we appreciate all the fans that showed up.”
In the singles matches, Coramutla defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-4. In a tight three set match, third seed Way beat his opponent 6-3, 4-6, 10-8. Gura won his match 7-5, 6-2, while Johnson and Shen won their matches 6-4, 6-3, and 6-0, 6-0, respectively.
Andover looks to continue its winning streak against Roxbury Latin on Friday.
Coramutla said, “Beating Exeter definitely gives the team more confidence going into the end of the season. I like the way everyone is playing and I know the level of tennis will keep getting better as the season progresses. We are definitely ready for New Englands and I like our chances.”