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Tennis Rips Rye 7--0
On Thursday, April 19, Rye Country Day School's boys varsity tennis team came to the Hopkins campus with a 4--1 dual meet record. Fortunately for Hopkins, the Hopkins tennis team responded gallantly to the challenge that Rye brought. Over the years, coming into this match, Hopkins held a 9--7 overall record, with 5 of those 16 matches being decided by a single match.
Senior Nolan Paige took court one against freshman Sam Hearst from Rye. Though Sam fought gamely, he was no match for Nolan's amazing combination of ground stroke penetration, sharp angles, and precision volleys. Nolan finished with a 6--1, 6--0 victory. Nolan's brother Sayer finished shortly after Nolan, frustrating Rye's senior #2 player, Sebastian Lafantant with uncanny steadiness and accurately struck angled shots mixed in for good measure, coming through without the loss of a single game.
The next Hopkins team to dominate proved to be the #1 doubles duo of tri-captain Alec Bartimer and seventh grade sensation Peter Conklin. The combination of Alec's expert net play in finishing points and Peter's pounding ground game proved to be too much for Rye's #1 doubles team, which fought gamely but lost 6--0, 6--2. Then tri-captain Michael Bartimer won a lengthy match against a determined Matt Weissman (whose grandparents were the donors for the much used and loved Weissman Room at Hopkins), with many rallies going for over a dozen strokes, and with great hustle and determination from both players. The 6--1, 6--1 final outcome in favor of Michael in no way reflected the intensity of this match. Michael's win clinched the team victory for Hopkins.
At #2 doubles, Scott Goldstein and Jack McLean used depth of ground strokes and some opportunistic poaches by Scott to come through against a hard hitting and determined Rye team, by the consistent score of 6--2, 6--2. But the closest match of the day came at #3 doubles, pitting Hopkins ninth grader Noah Rennert and seventh grader Zev Rosen against the tenth grade Rye combination of Adam Kozek and Paul Lenke. The match stayed even throughout with a number of the games being decided by the final no-ad point of the game. Because all the other matches had been completed, it was decided to shorten this match to an eight game pro set. Eventually the Rye team, with some aggressive net play, appeared to take control of the match with a 7--5 lead. But at this point, Zev began to hit his ground strokes with greater depth and with cross court precision, and Noah hit his serves, ground strokes, and began poaching more frequently at the net. This turned things around to 8--7 in favor of Hopkins, but then the Rye team came back to win a no-ad final point to force the match into a tiebreaker. The Hopkins team continued what it had been doing in recent games, with both Noah and Zev hitting crucial volleys, and then forcing the Rye team to press to try to get back into the match. Hopkins won the final tiebreaker decisively, giving Hopkins a very hard earned final 7--0 victory.
Hopkins will have one day to replenish its energy level before taking on their arch-rival Fairchester opponents Brunswick School of Greenwich, at Brunswick, on Saturday morning at 11 AM. Both teams will know what they are up against, having played each other twice in recent years.
With best regards,
William L. Ewen
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Voted #1
Best Day School
in CT, 2024
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Hopkins is a private middle school and high school for grades 7-12. Located on a campus overlooking New Haven, CT, the School takes pride in its intellectually curious students as well as its dedicated faculty and staff.
