This past weekend Andover’s Boys Tennis team faced off against several schools in the NEITA giving Andover a chance avenge earlier losses to Deerfield and Milton. Andover faced Deerfield first. The newly paired doubles team of Max Png ’10 and Tony Zou ’09 combined their individual strengths to defeat their opponents 8-3. Hunter Schlacks ’11 and Myles O’Neil ’12 fell behind 7-2 early in their doubles match. But they overpowered their opponents and claimed the victory with a finals score of 9-7. The singles’ players closed out the match quickly. Trey Meyer ’09 won his match 6-2, 6-1, and Mark Adamsson ’11 won 6-4, 6-0. Schlacks lost at third position on the ladder to a very tough opponent, 6-1, 6-3. O’Neil brought back the fire for the team when he won a dominant match, 6-1, 6-0. Andover finished off Deerfield with a final score of 4-1. With an undefeated record coming into the tournament, Milton was seeded number one. Learning from the match against Deerfield, Andover knew it had to take the doubles point in order to succeed against Milton. With a positive and aggressive approach, Schlacks and O’Neil defeated Milton 8-6 in second doubles. At third doubles, Zou and Png won their match 8-2 and secured the much-needed doubles point for Andover. Michael Kontaxis ’11 won his match at number five singles, 7-5, 6-0. Schlacks and Zou both lost difficult matches, leaving it up to Adamsson to reel in the team’s win. Playing through severe leg cramps in his second set, Adamsson used his technique and accurate hitting to pull out the win for Andover. Coach Wilkin said, “His courageous win against Milton was one of the all-time great performances in Andover tennis.” Adamsson’s hard work earned Andover a win 4-3 and a spot in the finals on Sunday afternoon against Loomis. In singles, Meyer won his match, but losses at the third and fifth positions meant Andover needed to win two out of three matches to take the championship. It all came down to O’Neil. O’Neil won the first set, but was unable to win his second set for the victory. In the third set, his opponent pulled ahead 5-2, but O’Neil fought back. In the ninth game the score was deuce, setting up one of the most dramatic points of the match. O’Neil called a ball out, but his Loomis opponent disagreed. This called for a match point in which O’Neil could not return a forehand. Andover lost a close championship match, 4-3. Andover faced Exeter this past Wednesday, and defeated the team 6-1.
