With number one player Michael Li ’06 unavailable, the Andover Boys Varsity A Tennis Team fell to Groton 4-2 in the first round of the team tournament on Saturday. It regrouped over the weekend, however, defeating Exeter 6-0 on Wednesday to finish out the season. Andover arrived at Groton for an early morning start. Not yet having found any kind of rhythm, Andover quickly lost the doubles point. Ben Grant ’05 and Matt Schubert ’07, playing third doubles, lacked consistency and their usual vigor. They were the first to go down, losing 8-2. “It was a frustrating loss because it was a team we definitely could have beaten,” said Grant. Daniel Wagman ’06 and Foster Jebsen ’08 teamed up at the second position, but they were equally unsuccessful. Captain Jon Weigel ’05 and Andrew Chan ’08, made their match more interesting. But it was called off when the doubles point had already been decided in favor of Groton. After a short break, the teams began the singles matches. Trailing 1-0, Andover was under pressure to come up with some early wins. But it failed to do so and dug itself into an even deeper hole. Schubert, playing number six, went down first. Hitting tentatively, he failed to develop any consistency. He was constantly on the run, as his opponent drove balls to the corners. The 6-1, 6-1 loss was his first of the season. Grant lost soon after by a score of 6-3, 7-5. Though he mustered his strength late in the second set and began hitting more consistently, he was unable to overcome his opponent’s strong play. Down 3-0, Andover needed to win all remaining matches to secure a team victory. And at first, it appeared within reach. Jebsen, hitting deep drives to his opponent’s backhand, won in straight sets at number four. Wagman, in one of his strongest performances of the season, won at number two shortly thereafter. After splitting the first two sets he came out with a convincing win in the third. Captain Weigel and Chan were embroiled in heated battles at numbers one and three. After losing the first set and being down 5-2 in the second, Captain Weigel made a clutch comeback to even his match at one set a piece. Chan had also split sets, and he was on serve in the third. But a win was not in the cards for Andover. Chan’s opponent outplayed him in the final stages of the match to put the team contest out of reach for Andover. With the score standing at 4-2 in favor of Groton, the coaches decided to call off the number one match. Andover went on to roll through its match Wednesday at Exeter, winning by an abbreviated score of 6-0. Due to inclement weather, the match was played indoors. Andover came out on fire, sweeping the six singles matches. Li and Wagman won 8-2 at first doubles, but the other two doubles matches were called off because of time constraints.
