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The Team
The Centaurs boys’ tennis team is off to a 4-0 start this season. Photo by Ann Rathbone
It’s been a good first two weeks for the Woodstock Academy boys’ tennis team.
The Centaurs are off to a 4-0 start (2-0 in Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) after three wins last week.
The Centaurs survived a 4-3 battle with Waterford, easily captured a 7-0 win over Bacon Academy and got through a spring break exodus to record a 4-1 win over Killingly.
“They look good,” Woodstock Academy boys and girls tennis coach Ann Rathbone said of the boys program. “We have confidence and chemistry this year. I think we’ve turned the program around from three years ago when it was floundering. Everyone feels good about the direction of the team.”
The Centaurs downed Waterford despite getting just one singles victory.
Top singles player David Fleck was not available for the match.
That meant the doubles teams pulled the Centaurs fat out of the fire with the sweep.
The No. 1 team of Stefan Chervenkova and Aidan Stewart posted a 6-2, 6-2 straight-set win over the Lancers Kevin McEntarter and Lucas Marlott.
That was followed by a 6-2, 6-2 win for Connor Quinn and Jai Abrams over Nick Poscich and Ethan Chan.
Evan Haskins and Morris Hsu wrapped things up with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Gabriel Parent and Enzo Guarnieri.
The only singles player to post a victory was Italian exchange player Luigi Boselli who downed Elias Picinich 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) at No. 3 singles.
“I knew he was going to come on for us in the fourth spot but he played three in Waterford and did well. He’s a fighter. He’s feisty. You watch him play and he spews Italian. After he won, we didn’t know what he was saying, but, we knew he was excited,” Rathbone said.
The Centaurs cruised to victory, for the most part, against the Bobcats (1-4, 0-1).
“Last year, we struggled against Bacon. We split with them in the season so I feel great about the 7-0 win,” Rathbone said.
Fleck and Boselli were tested a bit in their matches.
Fleck was taken to three sets by Greg Vilardo before pulling out a 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 win. Boselli had to come back from losing the first set to Riley Fitzsimmons, 6-3, to record victories of 6-1, 6-2 and raise his personal record to 3-0 on the season.
The Centaurs did get victories from Riley Douglas and Chervenkova in the other two singles and swept the two doubles matches that were played. The Bobcats forfeited the third.
Everyone was searching for players April 12, but the seven the Centaurs had were enough.
Woodstock Academy lost only one game in singles to Killingly.
Fleck downed Bryan Barrow 6-0, 6-1; Douglas posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Mike Charron and Aidan Stewart won by that same score over Russell Farnsworth.
Chervenkova and Jacob Boynton lost their first set at No. 2 doubles to Jacob Brower and Aidan Parsons, 6-3, but rallied to win the match with 6-0, 6-3 victories in the next two sets.
Girls Raise Mark to 2-1
The Centaurs girls’ team played only one match last week and pulled out a 4-3 win over East Lyme.
It was the first ECC Division I match for Woodstock Academy.
“It was hard fought and I didn’t expect it to be that close,” Rathbone said. “We’ve had East Lyme’s number the past couple of years.”
Top singles players Mari Ruggeri and Morgan Bassett both posted victories.
The Centaurs captured the first two doubles matches.
The No. 1 team of Adeline Smith and Caitlin Sroczenski won at No. 1 singles and Rachel Lambert teamed with Emma Durand to also take the No. 2 doubles match.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy