Senior Thomas Tran hitting the ball off his court. From 2017 to 2018 Blue and Gold Archives.
This season for the Boys Tennis team has been successful overall. The team has a record of 7-3 and are on track to make it to the State tournament.
The team’s performance steadily improved as the season went on. According to senior captain Thomas Tran, the team reached consistency “in terms of results and skill.” He explains that in the past years, some players on the team would “falter” to opponents that “on paper, were weaker.” However, this season brought a new change, as many players were able to improve over the off-season, thus creating a team that “allows [them] with much more margin to win” and a team that has each player relying on one another. Junior Jacky Luong adds that most of the improvement from the team has come from “individual practice and dedication” due to the irregular practices caused by weather.
In terms of individual performance, Tran says that he has become consistent with his skills. He contributes this to his “improved mentality.” He aimed to maintain focus and made sure that he does not doubt himself in a match. This has worked out for him not just in his consistency but also his goals, which was to reach the State Solo tournament. Senior Simon Cen, a first-year Varsity player, expected to have a “huge learning curve,” but was able to pick up a doubles partner “without too much trouble” and have a positive record. While he states that his performance was great, he still has “much more to learn.” Luong is also a first-year Varsity player. However, he feels that his performance has been “unsatisfactory” due to an injury at the beginning of the season. He plans on “earning that spot back” and play at least one Varsity match before the end of the season to prove himself again.
The most challenging game for all of the members was their matchups against Somerville. Somerville has a historically strong team, according to Tran. Additional disadvantages such as their strongest player being sidelined due to sickness/injury caused both the home and away match to be difficult, losing 0-5 in one of the games.
On the other hand, the most rewarding game for Tran was the game against Lynn Classical. Two newly promoted members, sophomores Andrew Hoang and Hanson Mei, were able to “clinch a deciding doubles match” to get a win for the team. For Luong, it was the match against Lynn English that went exceptionally well, as the team scored a 5-0 victory, making the “struggle through the rain” worth it.
Despite the match that was rewarding for Cen was the North Reading game, where he earned his Varsity spot, his favorite moment of the season was at the Lynn Classical meet, where he won his first game. It was his first time playing Varsity with his doubles partner, senior Daniel Augustin. Cen recalls that as the duo scored more points, Augustin “just looked at [him] with a big smile.”
Tran states that the team is getting to that point where they look forward to next year’s season, which he feels will be a “rebuilding period” for the remaining members. He hopes to make his last year count and help the JV members improve, setting them up to take the torch.
