Despite the hard work and determination, neither the Londonderry High boys’ nor the girls’ tennis teams had their 2017 seasons go quite as well as they would have liked.
Both contingents finished up last week, with both having dropped their final six decisions. The Lancer males ended up with a 4-10 record, and the Lady Lancers wound up at 2-12.
BOYS
The Lancer boys were bested by Concord by an 8-1 count in Londonderry on Tuesday, May 16, with the lone Londonderry victory being delivered by number six singles player Tyler Cullen in an 8-1 blowout success.
“Finally a perfect weather day, unfortunately Concord was just too good today,” lamented Janice Norwesh. “Newcomer and sophomore Jacob Escott paired with Cam Ness and freshman Ryan Cullen paired with Quentin Caruso took some solid games in the varsity doubles outings today.”
The locals concluded their season with a home match against Keene on Friday, May 19, with the visiting Blackbirds bagging a 7-2 victory.
Londonderry’s victories were claimed by fifth and sixth singles players Jay Hayes (8-4) and Ben Doris (9-7), but Josh Galluzzo was narrowly bested in a tiebreaker at fourth singles, and the doubles tandem of Ness and Caruso was also narrowly defeated in a tiebreaker at first singles.
“What can I say? It was a great year,” said coach Janice Norwesh. “We fought hard and learned a lot and won as many matches this year as the last two combined. We finished at 4-10, and that’s the kind of progress we need to keep striving for.”
GIRLS
The Lancer girls traveled to Plaistow to take on the Timberlane Owls on Tuesday May 16, with the hosts claiming a 7-2 victory despite singles successes from Amelia Brenner (8-1) and Kathryn Dwyer (8-0) in the third and fourth singles positions.
But the Lancers got blanked by a 9-0 score by the tough and determined Concord High girls in the state capital on Friday, May 19, with the tightest matches featuring the play of Dwyer at fourth singles (an 8-6 loss) and the doubles tandem of Dwyer and Brenner (8-5 loss).