Newton North Boys’ Tennis overtook Arlington 5-0 in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament round of 16 in a commanding win on June 4.
“I think overall, we played very well at singles and doubles,” said Phil Goldberg, the head coach. “Probably could have executed a little bit better on both matches at times, but we got the win.”
North entered the playoffs as the third seed and Arlington as the 14th seed, meaning North was expected to win. According to senior Lochlan Seth, this put extra pressure on the match.
“We kind of have to win,” he said. “We knew we had the advantage coming in, but it’s about just getting the job done.”
Seth, the first single, along with sophomore Johnny Wastcoat, the second single, and sophomore Warren Feldman, the third, has had a dominant season, according to Goldberg, and has carried the team to a 17-1 season. Against Arlington, Seth and Wastcoat both won their two sets 6-1 and 6-0, while Feldman won 6-3 and 6-0.
“The singles were very solid,” said Goldberg. “That’s our strength, the singles. And we looked very strong. Beat them very handily.”
The doubles had a tighter match, with the first pair, senior John Washek and junior Devan Pradhan, losing their first set 3-6, and then winning 6-2 before taking the match in a 10-5 tie break.
“We kind of started off slow, but then we definitely rallied in the second set after a tough loss in the first.” said Pradhan. “We just knew we could play a lot better.”
According to Pradhan, losing the first set is a hard obstacle to overcome because of a loss in momentum.
“It’s definitely all about that energy,” he said. “Tennis is definitely all about momentum. So whoever’s winning definitely has more momentum. So you always got to start off the second set big. I think we did that and it just kind of carried on.”
The second doubles, senior Will Fine and junior Jin Green, won their first set in a tie breaker and cleared the second set 6-0.
According to Fine, the doubles have been working hard to prepare for the playoff matches. “We’ve been doing some extra doubles practice, like outside of school, on the weekends and stuff, and I think that’s helped our game a lot,” he said.
The team has been focusing on consistency and aggressiveness going into the playoffs, according to Goldberg.
“We need to execute the easy shots that we have,” he said. “Sometimes we’re making a few too many unforced errors, and we need to clean that up a little bit as we play.”
North fell to Brookline, 3-2, Thursday June 6 in the Elite 8.
Newton North Postseason scores
Baseball
Lacrosse, Boys
Wellesley: 6 (14-5), Tigers: 5 (7-12)
Lacrosse, Girls
Tigers: 12 (6-15), Natick: 10 (13-7)
Chelmsford: 18 (14-6), Tigers: 6
Softball
Tigers: 8 (13-9), Beverly: 2 (15-6)
Taunton: 10 (22-0), Tigers: 1
Tennis, Boys
Tigers: 5 (15-2), Malden: 0 (13-3)
Tigers: 5, Arlington: 0 (14-6)
Brookline: 3 (16-4), Tigers: 2
Tennis, Girls
Tigers: 3 (12-5), Waltham: 2 (6-9)
Boston Latin: 4 (15-2), Tigers: 1
Track and Field, Boys
Champions, Bay State Conference
Track and Field, Girls
Champions, Bay State Conference
Ultimate Frisbee, Boys
Ultimate Frisbee, Girls
Volleyball, Boys
Tigers: 3 (18-3), Revere: 0 (13-8)
Tigers: 3, Acton-Boxborough: 0 (14-7)