Andover: 7 Brunswick:0
Andover: 6 Taft: 1
This past Friday, Andover Boys Tennis had a shutout against Brunswick in its season-opener. On Saturday, the team played against Taft, securing its second win.
Varsity B player Julian Tay ’26 had swung for the Brunswick game and talked about how the team was initially intimidated by Brunswick as they were supposedly a top team in New England. However, the team maintained confidence and a strong, yet supportive mentality throughout the matchup.
Tay had said, “I would say 50 percent was a mental game. If you had a strong mind, you’d won 50 percent of your battle. So we encouraged each other before the game. We had a team huddle before the game….I guess like everyone was feeling a bit nervous before the match, but because it was like the first week into the season, we felt that we should just play our best we could, like the best we can and see how far we could get and we eventually came out winning.”
Chase Burke ’25 talked about how the team had prepared for this matchup throughout the week by previously sweeping BB&N last Wednesday and sweeping Brunswick last Friday as well. Burke further talked about the mentality going into the game by saying how they lost last year by being unprepared and too confident.
Burke had said, “We’ve been practicing the last few weeks. We have been playing a lot of challenge matches to set our lineup…So, by Saturday we were all pretty prepared, we’d been playing a lot. We were all mentally ready and physically ready… But I think this year we did a much better job of just staying focused and staying present and it showed in the results.”
Ben Shin ’26 talked about how the team supported one another throughout the matches to secure the win during or before each player’s match. Even though Burke lost to his opponent on Saturday, Shin talked about how the team supported him throughout the game and even after the game to let him know that it was not a big deal.
Shin had said, “During Chase’s matches and in general, we’ll yell “let’s go somebody” or “you got this” just when either they won a point or they maybe were in a little bit of a swamp. When people weren’t playing they’ll come by the courts and cheer on, especially Kevin Niu who is a big cheerer. He’s very passionate and uplifts everyone. A really great teammate. He’s just like, always there to support. He’s there when you like, need some cheering”
Burke added onto Shin’s point by talking about how the team had supported one another throughout the season so far. Burke talked about how eating meals together had also brought the team together.
Burke had said, “Everyone did a really good job of cheering each other on. Whether you’re winning or losing. Tennis in high school is a team sport, and everyone knows that, so if you’re winning one match, it’s not the end of the world, and if you’re losing a match, it’s not the end of the world. So we did a good job of uplifting each other. In doubles, I know my partner, at least, and I did a good job of staying positive when the other one made a mistake, and I think, just keeping a positive attitude and supporting each other is very important… But while the match was going on, we only had four courts indoors, so we had our five and six singles players cheering everyone on, and I know doubles is really important, it’s easy to get down on your opponent, but, we all did a good job of, you know, being supportive and supporting each other and, lifting each other up when, when it seemed hard to do so”
Shin also talked about how he loved the team environment. Knowing Pletka and Burke for a while through playing together or against each other through outside tournaments, Shin emphasized how he had grown closer to them. Shin also talked about how close the team had grown from the offseason and how each player encouraged one another to do well.
Shin had said, “We were just very close this year. Like our chemistry was good. I mean, I’ve known Jacob for a while. We played junior tournaments together. So we already had a pretty strong friendship. With Chase, we’ve played a lot of outside of school tournaments too, together. We all just enjoyed being around each other. So yeah, I think that helps with the team spirit.”
Finally, Burke talked about how excited he was for this season and the future of the Boys Tennis team as most of the team were Uppers or younger. Burke also talked about how excited he was since he believed that the team this year was a special group of dedicated players.
Burke had said, “…I think we had like a good group of people who were all like willing to make tennis a priority this spring and like going to work hard and do what it takes for the team…So we’ve got a promising future, we kept working hard, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish in the few years that I have left.”
Boys Tennis will play again at home against St. Pauls on April 17.
