Jeff Shen ’26 hits a powerful forehand back to his opponent.
5/18 – Andover: 4, Hotchkiss: 0
5/18 – Andover 4, Groton: 0
5/19 – Andover: 4, Taft: 2
This past weekend, Boys Tennis (15-0) advanced to the final stages of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Tournament. On Saturday, Andover progressed through the quarterfinals and semifinals, defeating Hotchkiss and Groton. A day later, despite gloomy weather and delays, the team went on to beat the second seed, Taft, to win the NEPSAC Championship.
Chase Burke ’25 emphasized how Ben Shin ’26’s impressive match against Taft energized his teammates. Shortly after, carrying the momentum, Kevin Niu ’25 secured the winning point, clinching the championship title for Andover.
“Ben at four singles had a really dominant victory. He brought a lot of energy to the team. People won their first set easily but were struggling in the second sets, and everyone pushed through. Kevin was the final clincher, he won his match 6-1 6-3, to give Andover the win which was super exciting,” said Burke.
According to Shin, the doubles set against Groton boosted the team’s confidence for the remaining sets. After overcoming a highly technical and powerful opponent, the team gained a one-point lead going into the singles, needing only three singles points to secure the victory.
“I think the start of our doubles against Groton really helped us win and just feel the good vibes for the next matches on Saturday. I would say the same thing about Sunday. We started off strong in doubles, which is always very crucial if we want to win. At one doubles, we had to play a really tough opponent, a kid from Botswana who is one of the best in our league. So we were able to beat him and win the doubles point for our team, that was definitely a really crucial moment,” said Shin.
Despite remaining undefeated this past season, Boys Tennis faced its own internal challenges. Their passion for tennis is so intense that it occasionally leads to unnecessary disputes. However, when it comes to tournaments and matches, the team reunites, driven by their mutual love for the game and for each other.
Burke said, “I know, a lot of us get into it in practice sometimes and we bicker and we have problems with each other. But when we come together in these matches, it’s just super important to stay together as one unit, remember, we’re a team and we all want each other to win. We all love each other. We’re here to support each other.”
Leading up to Wednesday’s match against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter), the team will focus on staying consistent. By attending practice, and sticking to their well honed skills, the team feels confident that as they sharpen a few tactical skills which are specific to every individual, they are capable of succeeding. However, after reaching their season’s goal of winning NEPSACs, practice is taking place in a more laid-back form.
Shin said, “Now it’s a little bit more relaxed, but we have a match coming up tomorrow, against Exeter, we still really want to win, we want to finish our season strong. But, after we won NEPSAC there’s kind of just this pressure lifted off our shoulders a little bit. Because that was our main goal of the season, that was what we were aiming for… we wanted to win the NEPSAC championships. And so now that we’ve done it, we’re very happy, but we still want to finish strong with a match on Wednesday.”
Andover played Exeter on Wednesday, winning 5-2.
