It’s eight straight for boys tennis
Since losing to Manchester Essex by the closest of margins, 3-2 on April 11, the Marblehead High boys tennis team (9-0 in the Northeastern Conference, 10-1 overall) has rattled off eight straight wins, including their latest two triumphs last week against Beverly (5-0, May 7) and Hamilton-Wenham (4-1, May 8). As of May 9, these Magicians are seeded eighth in the Division 2 power rankings. There are 52 teams in Division 2.
It was the first dry day of the week, and the Marblehead boys couldn’t wait to board the bus for Beverly to take on the Panthers last Wednesday. Their enthusiasm to play propelled them to dominate the home team.
Senior tri-captain Etan Farfel took down Logan Hall in first singles, 6-0, 6-0. Senior tri-captain Jayden Janock pretty much did the same to Thomas Menke in second singles, 6-0, 6-1. Junior T.J. Kelly completed the singles sweep by beating Nate Fien in third singles, 6-0, 6-2.
The first doubles team of sophomores Ty Cooper and Alex Boehning maintained the lopsided trend over Harrison Finamore and Alexander Alexeyev, 6-0, 6-1. Seniors Austin Bacon and Quinn Fletcher took care of Jackson Maker and Shane Griffin in second doubles, 6-1, 6-1.
In sub-varsity play, seniors Nico Altonian and Graydon Waller shutout Diego Pickler and Ben Walsh, 6-0, 6-0.
The Magicians came right back home after the win over Beverly to get ready for the Generals on another great weather day last Thursday.
The match of the day was Farfel’s win in first singles over Rory Taylor. The Marblehead captain was trailing, 5-4 in the first set. He then went on to pull out a 7-5 victory after winning three straight games. Farfel cruised through the second set, 6-3 to beat his worthy opponent in straight sets. “Etan displayed excellent strategy to secure the comeback win,” said coach Elisabeth Foukal afterwards.
Senior tri-captain Matthew Sherf lost a hard-fought second singles match to Alex Boardman, 6-3, 6-1. Bacon got the point right back to beat Patrick Driscoll in third singles, 6-0, 6-1.
Janock and Cooper teamed up to beat Grayson Minich and Will Gregory in first doubles, 6-1, 6-0. Kelly and Boehning came out on top against Kevin Spoon and Liam Maquire in second doubles, 6-1, 6-1.
In sub-varsity play, Adam Loughlin and Leo Winocour won, 6-2. Quinn Sullivan and Quinn Fletcher shutdown their Hamilton-Wenham counterparts, 6-0. Altonian and Waller won again, 6-2. Filip Wabno’s singles match was cut short abruptly, with Filip narrowly trailing his opponent, 6-5.
Girls tennis extends winning streak to five
Don’t look now, but the Marblehead High girls tennis team (8-3) has won five in a row. Its latest two triumphs were against non-league opponents Pentucket (5-0, May 7) and Hamilton-Wenham (3-2, May 8) last week. As of May 9, these Magicians are seeded 16th in the Division 2 power rankings. There are 59 teams in Division 2.
Against the visiting Pentucket Sachems, Samara Dosch started things off with a 6-2, 6-2 first singles victory. Second singles player Nina Johnson won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Abbie Goodwin shutout her third singles foe, 6-0, 6-0.
Marblehead’s first doubles dynamic duo team of Reese Friedman and Lani Gilmore just keeps on winning, 6-1, 6-0. Josie Reers and Callie Gilmore completed the shutout in second doubles, 6-0, 6-0.
The Magicians went back to work the very next day to beat the Generals on the road in a close match.
The Generals were able to come out on top in both first and second singles. Naomi Provost defeated Dosch in first singles, and Emily McIntosh took care of Johnson in second singles, 6-3, 6-1.
But Goodwin got her teammates untracked in third singles with a scrappy win over Charlene Ireland, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
Gilmore and Friedman won again in first doubles after beating Olivia Romans and Evelyn Esiduiles, 6-2, 6-1.
Caroline Bruett and Reers decided the match in Marblehead’s favor by defeating Sofie Greene and Gabrielle Jewett in second doubles. The Marblehead tandem started slowly, trailing 5-2, but was able to make some adjustments to come roaring back to win the set, 7-5.
The Generals, however, answered right back to win the second set, 6-3. Before darkness and rain hovered over the courts, this Marblehead doubles team was able to prevail in the third set, 6-2 to help secure the victory for their teammates.
“This was a great high school tennis match between two very good solid teams,” said coach Tracy Ackerman. “The Generals have dominated the Cape Ann League the past few years, so a victory was really meaningful for us.
“We are peaking at the exact right time,” added Ackerman. “This win, along with the 3-2 win over Masco the previous week, will give us huge momentum going into the postseason. We still have a few tough regular season matches left against Beverly (May 14), Danvers (May 15) and Lynnfield (May 21), but we are trending in the right direction. Abbie Goodwin, in particular, continues to impress me with the improvements she has made this season.”
