Hopkins Bests Loomis to 5-2 in Close Season Finale Match Singles: 1) Gavin Anderson (LC) def. Max Frías 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 10-6 2) Tiger Lao (LC) def. Teo Bortan 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 3) Jay Dusza def. Will Howley 7-5, 6-1 4) Alex Podoltsev def. Sal Katz 6-1, 6-

Fresh off a narrow victory in the FAAs, the boys saddled up and headed north to take on the Pelicans at their luxurious campus. After locating the correct set of pristinely-tended courts, Hopkins got down to business playing in the traditional 6/3 format with “repeats”, in which the doubles matches count for only one point of the contest. Today’s top six pulled two shifts today, with both sections including ad scoring and tight matches all around. Fortunately, the weather was not too hot, and since the match took place in the middle of May, the sun did not set before play was concluded, as was the case at the beginning of the season when we played Taft at home.

 

In the doubles, Max and Teo joined forces to claim the first victory against Loomis. The two overpowered the Pelicans and even threw in some unique shot-making, including Max’s between-the-leg save that landed deep in the alley and out of reach of their opponents. Jay and Lucio ended their match with the same result, but their match lasted much longer. Our #2 team had to outduel the extremely consistent Loomis players, who were very quick-handed at the net. Last to come off was our #3 team, who had to go all the way to the tiebreaker to claim their very close match. Excellent work, guys!

 

After catching their breath and getting some water, each of our teammates returned directly to the courts to begin their singles matches, with the first ones to go on at 5 PM. Alex quickly garnered a second point for Hopkins by closing out his match with a definitive 6-0, 6-1 win. Lucio also took an early lead at the #5 Singles position and never relinquished control. Good Job, Lucio!

With three points in hand, it appeared as though Hopkins had a comfortable lead. However, just one point away from victory, Hopkins found itself in a grueling battle on all four courts. Teo had dropped the first set to a very fierce competitor who had been very consistent on key points. Teo fought hard in the second to tie things up and to force the final-set tiebreaker. Unfortunately, he got down early in the tiebreaker and could not recover the lead. A point for Loomis…

 

While all of the other matches were well into their second sets, Jay finally took the first of his match 7-5. His opponent was as consistent as they come; there were many lengthy rallies and Jay often had to hit four or five overheads in order to win a point. But our recent FAA singles champion has faced a number of consistent base-liners this season, and so he was able to take it all in stride to take the second set 6-1 and clinch the match for Hopkins. I hope that he gets a good night’s sleep!

 

Although the match was decided in our favor, no one remaining on the court relaxed one bit. Max and his opponent went head-to-head for the entire match, with Max claiming the first set through grit and determination. Loomis’s #1 had quite a lot of grit of his own, and fended off two match points in the second set to force a tiebreaker, which he ultimately won 11-9. The third-set tiebreaker was equally thrilling, but unfortunately for Hopkins, Loomis prevailed 10-6.

 

Andy’s match was similarly quirky. He took the lead quickly but his opponent suddenly became more consistent and hit a number of winners to take the first set 7-5. Hop’s captain was able to sort things out, however, and won the second set to force a tiebreaker, which he claimed 10-8.

 

With the final score at 5-2, HOP ended the season with a solid 9-2 record. We’re looking forward to competing in the New England Prep School tournament, the details for which have yet to be provided.

 

GO HOP!