Big Red Varsity Tennis Dominates the Court

By V MURDAYA and LEON XIE

Big Red’s boys’ varsity tennis team is having one of the best seasons in the past decade, with their Varsity A team boasting a record of 8-2 and Varsity B team racking up an impressive 6-2 record.

When asked about both teams’ outstanding performance, Varsity B coach Bob Lietz said, “The team this year is performing very well; not only in this season but in comparison to other seasons. We have a very [strong] team with players that perform well in all [14] slots of the team, so we’ve had an excellent season and we just think that we will continue to do so.”

Indeed, the combination of new talent and veteran players appear to be a deadly one for the team’s opponents, as incoming players are able to receive guidance from those who’ve had high school careers spanning multiple years.

Prep Hugo Shinn attested to the advantages of having players of all ages on the team. “It really feels like a family, everyone’s super tight and there’s a lot of upperclassmen to help guide us. It’s really helpful to hit with them, [for] warmups and stuff, [and] they’re really great at giving advice. They’re super encouraging in your longer games, [and] they’ll come and cheer you on.”

Shinn continued, citing a specific example of a nail-biting epic of a match he’d played earlier in the season, “There was this one time where, at Loomis, I was playing the last game of the day, and there was the whole Loomis team on one side and the whole Exeter team on the other, and it went to a ten-point tiebreaker. It was super hype and stressful, but it was super fun though.”

This year’s community was a big point of satisfaction for many team members. Upper Steven Chen, a player on the varsity A team, said, “I think, as someone who’s been on the varsity team for three years now, this year is pretty unparalleled in terms of how we all see each other and the community we have, not only as a tennis team but also as friends who share the courts together.”

Perhaps one of the secrets to the team’s success lies in their practices and philosophy regarding warmups. David Liu, a prep on Varsity B, explained the coaches Ron Rodriguez and Bob Lietz’s involvement in warmups: “One of the pre-match rituals is Coach Ron will usually give us a speech before the game, Coach Bob will also give us logistics the day before.”

Speaking on the meticulous nature of their preparation just before matches, Chen said, “We start really close to the net, we just wanna work on our angles, our accuracy, our consistency. We work on our reflex volleys, just trying to cover every single part of our game that might be used in a match whether that be in singles or doubles.”

The team’s top-down, catch-all approach to getting ready to play when it counts has certainly proven effective, and as they head into the final stretch of the season, they haven’t shown any signs of slowing their roll.

Coach Lietz discussed their hopes for the upcoming NEPSAC tournament: “In terms of how we’ll perform, I think we have a legitimate chance to win the whole tournament,” he said. “We will certainly be tested by a number of teams—Andover’s particularly strong this year, and Groton’s quite strong—but I think we will have a very good chance of winning the whole thing, if we continue to play like we have.”

From the players’ side, lower Neal Veerana captured the high spirits of the team while they gear up for their last match of the season, which will be against Andover, before NEPSAC: “I mean, our goals are to just win! Win everything. The big one for us is Andover. They beat us last time, and I think all of us are looking forward to getting a little punch back at them. They beat us on our home turf, and hopefully, we can beat them on their home turf.”

The girls’ team has also had an impressive record, with the Varsity A team scoring seven wins out of nine matches and the Varsity B winning all five of theirs.

The regular pep talks from Coach Nancy Bulkley have become a pregame ritual for the teams, which help to get the girls into a strong, collective mindset heading into the game. “I think one of the most important things that happens is the talk with Coach Nancy pre-game,” prep Aarti Raju said. “It’s important that as a team we approach the game with the same mindset. We get to have a little bit of a pep talk, a little bit of encouragement of what we need to do, and have us be in the right area.”

Lower Mathilde Senter gave some insight into how the team practices. “The team prepares for upcoming games by doing intensive drills, doubles practice with our respective partners, and also challenge matches to make sure everybody is where they should be on the ladder.”

After a stunning win against Deerfield Academy in late April, prep Naomi Moskovich shared, “We felt fulfilled. We worked hard. We worked hard in practice every day and so it was a great victory because we did lose to them last year, so it was just fun feeling like winners and being winners.”

“The team vibe is really good and friendly,” upper Freddie Chang added. “We have a lot of team dinners, which has made us closer.”

Thanks to incoming players who elevate the energy level on the court, upperclassmen with ample experience and tactical knowledge, as well as coaches always ready to lend a helping hand, the boys’ and girls’ varsity tennis teams have had an incredible season, with more to come in the future.