The Marblehead High boys tennis team (3-0 in the NEC, 3-2 overall) lost a close match to Hamilton-Wenham, 3-2 on April 23, before shutting out Salem two days later, 5-0.
Senior captain Mika Garber lost to Elois Chanel by default in first singles, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).
“Mika cruised through the first set without losing a game. Unfortunately, he hurt his foot and ended up losing the second set in a tiebreaker, before retiring without playing the third set, because of the injury,” said coach Elisabeth Foukal. “It was a great effort by him trying to persevere through his injury.”
Marblehead junior captain Etan Farfel beat senior Keenan Maguire in second singles, 6-2, 6-0.
Sophomore T.J. Kelly lost to Rory Taylor in third singles, 6-1, 6-1 in a match that was closer than the final score would indicate, according to Foukal.
Junior captain Jayden Janock and his classmate Austin Bacon lost a heartbreaker to Max Clarke and Henry Stinson in first doubles, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6. “Jayden and Austin had all the momentum in the third set, leading 5-3. This was a first-rate doubles match by all four players,” said Foukal.
Junior Anthony Vizy and freshman Ty Cooper came through with a win in three sets against H-W’s Jadon Wang and Alex Boardman in second doubles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
In sub-varsity play, Quinn Fletcher and Ben Zaltsman won, 6-1. Alex Boehning and Filip Wabno did the same, 6-3. In JV play, Quinn Sullivan and Graydon Waller maintained the winning trend, 8-0. Cordt Menzler and Nico Altonian followed a similar script, 8-3, as did John Bender and Andrew Halvorson, 12-10.
Griffin Waller and Connor Dunleavy lost their doubles match, 8-2. Leo Rapone and Blake Harper experienced similar results, 8-2. Dimitry Kukushkin and Will Pelliciotti fell, 10-8. Max Teter and Luke Guevara dropped an 8-1 decision. Gerry Betz and Jack Twomey were on the short end of an 8-3 score.
Chakib Khelladi and Michael LaBossiere lost, 8-2. Chafik Khelladi and Quinn Sullivan suffered an 8-3 loss.
The Marblehead boys bounced back the next day to beat Salem, 5-0.
Junior Leo Winocour defeated Rylen Workman in first singles, 6-4, 6-0. Junior Austin Bacon topped Finn Hangar in second singles, 6-0, 6-0. Junior Quinn Fletcher also won in straight sets versus Eden McLain in third singles, 6-1, 6-2.
The first doubles team of Zaltsman and Cooper breezed to victory past Brooks Workman and Mark Qualkenbush, 6-0, 6-1. Boehning and Wabno shutdown Will Towne and Ray Nyugen in second doubles, 6-0, 6-0.
Girls tennis resumes schedule after two-week layoff
Between spring school vacation week and postponements, the Marblehead High girls tennis team (1-3) didn’t play a competitive match since April 10 until they took on host Masco just over two weeks later on April 26. However, they ended up losing to the Chieftains by the narrowest of margins, 3-2.
First singles Masco superstar Teagan Skully defeated her Marblehead counterpart Maddie Conlon, 6-0, 6-0. Skully’s teammate Taylor Mastrogiovann then topped Aviva Bornstein in second singles, 6-1, 6-3.
Sami Dosch recorded the first Marblehead point in third singles, when she beat Maya Klink in a
competitive three set match, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 to remain undefeated on the season at 4-0.
The first doubles team of Aoife Bresnahan and Lucia Levin secured the team’s second point after defeating Sienna Anvarni and Sophia Donnellan in another three-set battle, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
The second doubles team of Lani Gilmore and Nina Johnson lost to Masco’s Izzy Kelly and Paige Hurton, 3-6, 1-6.
“I was really pleased with the two points we won,” said coach Tracy Ackerman. “Sami (Dosch) and our first doubles team dug deep and were scrappy by running every ball down and keeping their opponents off balance. It was great to see them hustle with so much intensity.
“Masco is obviously a super talented team, so the fact that we grabbed two points from them says a lot about our ability to keep on improving,” added Ackerman. “We now have a packed week with six matches in a row, so we will need to stay focused and maintain our high level of play.”
The Magicians were scheduled to take on Winthrop and Saugus April 29 and 30, before hosting Gloucester May 1, starting at 4 p.m. They will then take on non-league host Latin Academy May 2, followed by Beverly May 3 at home. Both matches will also begin at 4 p.m.
Joe McConnell
