The Gill St. Bernard’s Boys’ Tennis Team ended the season with an 8-5 record after competing against seven extremely talented teams within Somerset County in addition to six other quality teams outside of the county.
Highlight matches of the season included the first ever competition against Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 4-1, and a hard-fought battle against Wardlaw-Hartridge, 3-2.
“All the athletes continued to improve and demonstrated a tremendous amount of enthusiasm throughout the season,” Head Coach Chris Walsh said. “We worked on our consistency in all phases of tennis, and our serving, groundstrokes (forehand and backhand), volleys, and overheads all improved from Day One.”
That improvement was on full display when junior Jack Dahler held strong at first singles in the match against Scotch Plains-Fanwood and prevailed 6-0, 6-3. At second singles, junior Matthew Segal played his best match of the season and won in three exciting sets (2-6, 6-3, 6-2). Rounding out the juniors, Peter Frantz-Pendell took home the win in third singles, 6-3, 6-3.
The most intense confrontation in the match took place in first doubles, when junior Bennett Lavoie teamed up with sophomore Justin Lee. After losing the first set, 7-5, the boys prevailed 6-2, 6-4 in the final two sets to clinch the victory—almost two hours later!
Jack also led the way in the match against Wardlaw-Hartridge, defeating their number one player in first singles, 6-0, 6-3. Peter coasting to a win at third singles, and the powerhouse first doubles duo of junior Drew Pereira and Bennett clinched the victory with a 6-1, 7-5 defeat over the competition.
“Jack, Drew, and Bennett led the team in victories for the season,” Coach Walsh explained, “but the other contributors paved the way to the final 8-5 record.
Our entire squad is returning next year, and with the addition of some talented players from the Eighth Grade, we are very enthusiastic about our prospects for the 2024 season.”
Well done, Knights!