2011 Milton Academy Tennis Recap
The Boys Varsity Tennis team entered the 2011 season hoping to build on a 14-1 record and second place finish in the I.S.L standings. Once again, we came up a little bit short. Unfortunately, to win the I.S.L. crown we needed to go undefeated, and we narrowly missed doing so, finishing with a final record of 14-1. Milton tennis had another great year, and finishing second in the league is still a big accomplishment. This year, the team was comprised of five returners: three seniors (Noah Bragg, Andrew Strang, and Tyler Edwards), one Junior (captain Matthew Lebovitz), and one Sophomore (Alex Lauretti). The team added two freshmen (Bart Panarese and Chris McDonough) and a Junior, Henry Arndt, to round out the eight-man roster.
The team returned to campus after March break ready for the season to begin. After a strong performance in a scrimmage against Dexter, the team moved on to our I.S.L. schedule. The team dominated its first five opponents. Out of a possible seventy-five sets, Milton won a staggering 69 sets. Milton’s first real test came on April 23rd when we played a Belmont Hill team that is always in the I.S.L. title hunt. This match was even more meaningful for us considering Belmont Hill was responsible for our only loss during the 2010 season. With revenge in mind, Milton’s three doubles teams (1. Noah and Bart, 2. Matt and Tyler, 3. Andrew and Henry) set the tone by sweeping all three pro-sets. With a 3-0 cushion entering singles matches, we only needed five more sets to clinch the victory. At 2nd and 3rd singles, Matt and Bart won both of their two sets to give Milton some breathing room. At 4th and 5th singles, both Tyler and Andrew were able to bounce back and win their second sets after dropping their first sets to lock up a 9-6 victory for Milton. After two easy wins, we found ourselves facing our toughest opponent of the season in Roxbury Latin. Once again we came out strong in doubles as we picked up two of the three points. However, we struggled in singles and were only able to pick up three sets to make the final score 5-10. While the loss was still a huge disappointment, the match was closer than the score indicated as Roxbury Latin won three of their sets by a score of 7-5.
Our next tough match came on May 18th against an improved St. Paul’s team at their indoor facilities. After winning two of the three doubles points, Noah, Matt, and Bart defeated their opponents to give us six more points. At sixth singles, Henry clinched for us by defeating his hard-hitting opponent in an exciting match. His victory gave us a 9-6 victory. Unfortunately, due to a technicality we were not selected for the New England Tournament. While we had shown that we had the ability to compete for the Class A title, the committee didn’t give us a bid because we hadn’t played any other Class A teams. The only Class A opponents on our schedule were Exeter and Groton. Exeter was cancelled due to rain and our match with Groton, which we won 11-4, was scheduled for the Wednesday after the tournament. After Groton, our last match of the year was against a young and up-and-coming Nobles team at Nobles. While they made it difficult for us, we were able to win the match handily and give Coach Duseau his one hundredth victory in only six years as Milton’s coach. The team will look to build off this year’s results, and our five returning players will continue to build on Milton’s strong tennis tradition. The team will miss the seniors, and we would like to wish them the best of luck as they move on to their chosen colleges and universities.
The team returned to campus after March break ready for the season to begin. After a strong performance in a scrimmage against Dexter, the team moved on to our I.S.L. schedule. The team dominated its first five opponents. Out of a possible seventy-five sets, Milton won a staggering 69 sets. Milton’s first real test came on April 23rd when we played a Belmont Hill team that is always in the I.S.L. title hunt. This match was even more meaningful for us considering Belmont Hill was responsible for our only loss during the 2010 season. With revenge in mind, Milton’s three doubles teams (1. Noah and Bart, 2. Matt and Tyler, 3. Andrew and Henry) set the tone by sweeping all three pro-sets. With a 3-0 cushion entering singles matches, we only needed five more sets to clinch the victory. At 2nd and 3rd singles, Matt and Bart won both of their two sets to give Milton some breathing room. At 4th and 5th singles, both Tyler and Andrew were able to bounce back and win their second sets after dropping their first sets to lock up a 9-6 victory for Milton. After two easy wins, we found ourselves facing our toughest opponent of the season in Roxbury Latin. Once again we came out strong in doubles as we picked up two of the three points. However, we struggled in singles and were only able to pick up three sets to make the final score 5-10. While the loss was still a huge disappointment, the match was closer than the score indicated as Roxbury Latin won three of their sets by a score of 7-5. 
Our next tough match came on May 18th against an improved St. Paul’s team at their indoor facilities. After winning two of the three doubles points, Noah, Matt, and Bart defeated their opponents to give us six more points. At sixth singles, Henry clinched for us by defeating his hard-hitting opponent in an exciting match. His victory gave us a 9-6 victory. Unfortunately, due to a technicality we were not selected for the New England Tournament. While we had shown that we had the ability to compete for the Class A title, the committee didn’t give us a bid because we hadn’t played any other Class A teams. The only Class A opponents on our schedule were Exeter and Groton. Exeter was cancelled due to rain and our match with Groton, which we won 11-4, was scheduled for the Wednesday after the tournament. After Groton, our last match of the year was against a young and up-and-coming Nobles team at Nobles. While they made it difficult for us, we were able to win the match handily and give Coach Duseau his one hundredth victory in only six years as Milton’s coach. The team will look to build off this year’s results, and our five returning players will continue to build on Milton’s strong tennis tradition. The team will miss the seniors, and we would like to wish them the best of luck as they move on to their chosen colleges and universities.
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