In its first match of the season, Andover Boys Tennis won two out of its three doubles and three of its singles to come out on top against BB&N on Wednesday. The team triumphed 10-5, giving it a strong start to its season.
During the match, especially in the doubles, excellent performances and teamwork propelled Andover over a strong BB&N team, according to second seed Aidan Burt ’21.
“We mixed up the doubles teams from last year and had new teams going in and fortunately, it mostly worked out well for us. [Co-Captain] Sean [Kralik ’19] and I played a good doubles match, we were consistent on the big points and served well too,” said Burt.
“In his single, Sean played a really solid match, he overpowered his opponent to win 6-1, 6-1. [Co-Captain] Nash [Johnson ’20] also played a solid match and despite his opponent playing well in the second set. He held him off and mixed up the pace to keep his opponent out of rhythm,” Burt continued.
Hudson Elegant ’21 said, “We had great teamwork all around, especially in the doubles. We had a lot of positive encouragement and a lot of cheering which really set the scene for the win,” added sixth seed
Since BB&N is part of the Independent School League (ISL), Andover was required to play in a different format than normal.
“The ISL format includes three doubles for one point each, and then six singles that are two sets and each set is a point,” said first seed Hayden Gura ’20.
According to Burt, Andover’s sweep of BB&N last year gave the team confidence this time around and it showed through the team’s play and attitude.
“Since we beat BB&N last year, we knew coming in that they would be playing for revenge but also that we were capable of beating them,” said Burt.
“We wanted to get out there and especially get out to a good start so we could repeat our win last year. And since we did get off to a good start, we were able to carry that through the singles and win pretty straightforwardly,” he continued.
“The whole team stood out for our first match back. It was super exciting to just get back out there and get into the hang of things. The team spirit was good and it’s always fun to travel with them. We did a great job winning matches and getting the job done,” added Gura.
Going up against Taft this weekend, Andover will look to continue its success after a 6-1 win last year.
“We’re just going to do the same things we’ve been doing. We have to get efficient practices in, and focus on beating a very experienced and talented Taft lineup,” said Gura.
Editor’s Note: Nash Johnson is a Copy Editor for The Phillipian.
