On Thursday, March 7th, the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze as the West Brunswick men’s tennis team gathered for their match against New Hanover. Though the match was set to begin at four that afternoon, the boys were out and ready to begin practicing around three, almost right after school had let out. It was only the third match of the season and they had to be ready for anything.
Every tennis match begins with an introduction led by the home team. This match was no different. Coach Scott Mehalick lined the boys up, each facing their opponent from the New Hanover team. It was a nerve-racking moment; this was their first match against New Hanover this season. New Hanover was welcomed to the courts by Coach Mehalick as the top three players were announced first: sophomore Kyle McCoy placed as the first ranked player, senior Adler Rice ranked as the second, and sophomore Tucker Hamilton ranked as third.
“Our ranks actually switch here and there,” said junior Anderson Valas. “It depends on who’s at the match and how we’re performing throughout the season.”
The match begins with 6 individual matches played by the top six players. The aforementioned top three were followed by the next three in this order: Sophomore Isaac Hales, junior Rodrigo Diego Hernando, and senior Abram Norton. They were sent to their designated courts with a fresh can of balls and a wish of good luck. All six players worked up a sweat as they played. Though this match didn’t see any overall wins, many of the players having some very close points.
After the top six matches were played, it was time for doubles. A doubles match is played as a “2 vs. 2”, with 2 players from each team facing off in an epic match. Doubles teams consisted of sophomore Chayton Cheers alongside Abram Norton, Kyle McCoy and Tucker Hamilton, and Isaac Hales paired with Rodrigo Diego Hernando. The players worked hard to communicate while also putting their best effort into every hit.
This match ended with a win for New Hanover, 0-9, but many boys expressed pride in their performance on the court.
“That was definitely the hardest I’ve played this season.” said Tucker Hamilton.
This season the team anticipates a better overall performance as the team has gained quite the number of players in comparison to previous seasons. Though many are new to the sport, they’re already getting into the swing of things.
