Boys’ Tennis Set Sights High For New Season: Team Optimistic and Hopeful to Return to New England Championships

The boys’ varsity tennis team expects a challenging season this spring, but hope to win the New England Class A Tennis Tournament for a second year in a row. The team finished their last season 9-2, winning first place at the New England Championship.

One challenge that this season presents is the departure of their former number one player, Brian Niguidula ’17, who transferred to Andover this fall. The team also lost their number two player, Moises Escobar ’15, who graduated. However, they are also welcoming several new students to the team. Among them are preps Jimmy Liu, Alex Mangiapane and Etienne Oshinowo and lower Dilan Nana, all of whom are expected to be promising assets.

Upper Cameron Gruss commented on the changes to this year’s roster. “ I think we have a lot more depth this year. The doubles point is going to be a lot more important, and as a team we are going to have to focus throughout both our singles and doubles matches,” he said.

The team looks forward to another opportunity to play Andover twice. Last season, the team won the first matchup 6-1, but lost 2-4 the second time. While the team looks to avenge their loss this year, senior Joon Kim emphasized the importance of teamwork to accomplish this goal.

“Our team this year so far has already begun to bond socially, so I feel that we work together well.”

Even though tennis is an individual sport, every match goes toward the final score against the opposing team. Kim is confident that strong teamwork will help them overcome the Smurfs.

“Even though Andover stands in our way, if we work hard in drills and put in time on the courts and the weight room we should have the talent to beat Andover and reclaim the championship,” said Kim. 

Lower Ryan Nguy agreed with Kim that the close knit nature of the team aids in victory on the court. According to him, the team already has an impressive culture of team spirit and support. When someone is playing the final match, all of the team members typically gather nearby to cheer him on. “The tennis team is a lot smaller than other sports teams,” said Nguy. “You start to get to know each other, which translates over to a more supportive and encouraging attitude on the court.”

Although this is his first year at Exeter, Oshinowo explained how his friendships with the boys on the team have already helped him become a better player. They often go to the dining hall together for dinner after practice. “Our team this year so far has already begun to bond socially, so I feel that we work together well,” said Oshinowo.

However, over the course of the next season the team will inevitably face obstacles. Two tiers of tennis courts will be removed this season, cutting the amount of court space for practice and making it more difficult to schedule home game matches.

New courts were built behind the softball fields, but lower Pedro Sanson still expressed disappointment with their placement. He believes less people will be encouraged to come to games now that the tennis courts have been moved back further.

“When the courts were by the gym, few people still stopped by to support our matches, and with the courts being moved to the back of the fields, we probably won’t have any supporters,” he said.

Although Mangiapane recognized this issue, he has confidence in both his teammates and his coach to overcome them. “Coach Freddy seems to be on top of things this year, and he seems to want to win New England’s just as badly as we do,” Mangiapane said. “Having a coach like and team spirit like we do can go a long way.”

The team’s first home game will be Saturday, April 2 against St. Paul’s School. They hope to see several fans out there supporting Big Red.