Nice start to season for Windham boys’ tennis

Windham High freshman hits the ball over the net during a
close boys' tennis doubles match against Bonny Eagle at
Windham on Thursday, April 21.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

By Matt Pascarella

On a fairly windy day, Windham took the court against Bonny Eagle for the first match of the 2022 spring regular season on Thursday, April 21. After a tough battle by every Windham player, Bonny Eagle won 4-1.

Windham doubles team composed of seniors Bradley Collins and Matt Medina defeated the Scots 6-0 and 7-5.

Windham freshmen doubles team composed of Zach Noonan and Asher Knott brought heavy competition right out of the gate as they forced a tiebreaker in a super close match, that resulted in Bonny Eagle just narrowly getting by in round three.

“I think they’ve done pretty well,” said Windham boys’ tennis coach Garry Stone. “We don’t have a lot of kids with a lot of experience this year; they’ve all been improving quite a bit – I’m pretty pleased with it. Our big goal this year is to have fun and get better.”

During all matches, there was intense hustle coupled with great focus as all Windham players kept their eyes on the ball and stayed with the ball during their matches. Every Windham player had great volleys and quick returns.

In the singles matches, the Scots may have gotten ahead this time, but it is early in the season and there is plenty of room for improvement.

“I definitely had some power serves,” said Windham senior and singles player Will Searway. “The one thing I really liked about the match was the sportsmanship; we were talking and having fun.”

Searway said he surprised himself and had good returns. Searway was nervous for this match but relaxed a little when he realized his opponent was a friend of his, Tim Zidle.

While Zidle beat Searway 6-0 and 6-1, Searway learned a couple lessons from Zidle, which prepared Searway for future matches. Searway learned to always go for the ball and to anticipate his opponent’s shots better.

Windham senior and singles player Nate Fitzgerald lost to Bonny Eagle 6-3 and 6-2.

Windham senior and singles player Connor McCarthy lost to Bonny Eagle 6-2 and 6-0.

In the close freshman doubles match of Noonan and Knott, they forced a third match after tying the Scots 6-3 and 3-6. During their tiebreaker match, it was very close with the teams being tied several times during the third match. Bonny Eagle won 13-11.

Both Noonan and Knott said they were focused on the game and tried to not get distracted, while communicating with each other at the same time. They said their short game at the net was really good as well as making it work on the ends. Both said their goal for the season is to keep improving. <