This season, the boys tennis season has been putting in the work and achieving notable growth along the way. 

Against both King’s Academy and Crystal Springs, they lost only by one match, scores that were described as massive improvements from seasons prior.

“We’ve never been one of the top contenders, but this year we gave a lot of really good teams a good run for their money,” Evan W. ’28 said.

Evan began playing with a new doubles partner this year: Ethan C. ’29. The two didn’t link up immediately, but it didn’t take long for them to start playing as a collective and racking up wins. 

“In that first match, there was no chemistry, but the coach gave us another chance together, and we completely bounced back,” Evan said. “We basically played perfectly. We figured out the strategy quickly, we executed it, and we were on the same wavelength. It just felt like everything clicked.”

Ultimately, Evan believes that the team dynamic played an integral role in his improvement this year. Unlike some other schools, where there is an intra-team competitiveness to fight for the top spots, Coach Gerald Sargeant promotes a more cohesive relationship between teammates by focusing competition against other teams, rather than each other.

“We all want to get better, but when we’re [at practice], we’re kind of joking around,” Evan said. “If we’re ever playing games, we’re not there to beat other people. We’re there to help ourselves, and others, get better.”

Looking to the future, Evan is excited by the promise he sees with the rookies on the team. Freshman Lucas Y. ’29 has already earned the singles two spot, the second-best of the team. 

 “I can’t wait to see him continue dominating at that single spot because he’s a pretty amazing player,” Evan said.