After his opponent came from behind to win the second set of the match, Hudson Elegant ’21 won a close tiebreaker set 10-8 to contribute to Andover Boys Tennis’ 4-3 win over Brunswick.
Mac Katkavich ’21 said, “The score was 3-3 overall and Hudson was the last match on, and we were all watching to cheer him on to clinch the win for us… Despite being so close to winning but having to keep playing, Hudson really rallied behind the team to win the third set tiebreak 10-8 with some really long, grueling points that sealed the huge win for us.”
Before its match against Brunswick, Andover lost to Groton 2-5 and defeated Phillips Exeter Academy 6-1. The team then went on to win two more matches in a row after Brunswick, beating Brooks 4-0 and Choate 5-2. Its record now stands at 9-1.
Dealing with a plethora of injuries over the last few matches, various team members have had to compete in more doubles matches than usual, according to Aidan Burt ’21.
Burt added, “Our team has been focused a lot on practicing and playing doubles since the doubles point at the beginning of each match can be crucial to a win. It’s also important to start strong with the doubles to set the tone for the rest of the matches and to gain insight into how well our opponents can play so we can take advantage during singles.”
Over the course of the season, the team has adjusted to fill in injury gaps and in the process has grown as a collective unit, according to Burt.
“We’ve improved not only individually, but also by being flexible as a team. A lot of us now play doubles well with players we didn’t play with last year, and with the matches and experience we’ve gained this year, we have all become much better players than we were at the start of the season,” said Burt.
The team will be competing in the Neita Team Championship this upcoming weekend.
