The Rutland High School boys tennis team closed out its regular season with a convincing 6-1 victory over Burr and Burton on a breezy Wednesday at White’s Playground.
The win set up the 9-3 Raiders for a high seed in the upcoming playoffs when the brackets are announced Monday.
Meanwhile, the youthful 4-7 Bulldogs finish off a season of learning the game and improving their skills, while adjusting to the mental aspects of the game.
Even though the Bulldogs won just one match, it was noteworthy.
Nick Plants at No. 2 singles defeated Connor Solimano 6-1, 6-0 to cap an undefeated season (9-0) in match play.
“I’ve learned that if you can play consistently with a little bit of power, you can win a lot of games,” said Plants, a four-year player for BBA coach Peter McNealus. “I was lucky to have a former player, who was just back from college, help me out quite a bit. It really improved my game.”
Plants, who is headed for Hobart next fall, is looking forward to the individual state championships that will take place in Burlington this weekend.
The Raiders, however, are looking to do some great things in the upcoming Division I state tournament. Rutland has quite a bit of depth with 23 players on the team.
And they will probably need it.
No. 1 singles player Andres Agular, who defeated BBA’s Will Simmors, 6-0, 6-3, will not be available because he is going to Spain.
Rutland coach Rob Purdy also will not have Keegan Bliss from the No. 1 doubles team of Bliss and Noah Tyson, who made quick work of BBA’s team of Eric Lin and James Wachala, 6-1, 6-1. But because of team depth and solid play from underclassmen, Purdy believes his team should fare well.
“It’s nice, I’ve got three really solid doubles teams and I’m ready to sub in right now,” Purdy said. “It’s tough to lose your No. 1; he’s really the best player, our team leader and really a great kid. But even with all of that, I knew what was going to happen come playoffs, so I used a lot of kids. I’ve played probably 14 or 15 kids and that depth will pay off for us.”
Despite the lopsided score, there were some pretty good matches played on the asphalt at White’s.
One of the most entertaining matches came at No. 3 singles, where Rutland’s Austin Roussele battled to a 7-6 (9-7), 7-5 win over Chapin Eyre. These two went at it with all they had, leaving it all on the court and nothing in reserve.
The other close match was a marathon at No. 5. It could have gone either way and in the end, had every member of both teams watching and cheering.
Rutland’s Jensen Kelley outlasted Sean Pellerin 6-7, 7-5 and 10-8 in a super tiebreaker.
Rounding out the match card, Rutland’s Zach Lane defeated BBA’s Alejandro Shapiro 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, while the Raiders’ No. 2 doubles team of Dom Chadwick and Charlie Hubbel rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Brett Torres and Owen McCostis.
McNealus shrugged off the loss. He knows that his players have come to practice every day and have improved and that the best is ahead for the Bulldogs.
“We have a few freshmen; my No. 3 and No. 4 are freshmen and my No. 1 is a junior, plus some coming in, so we’re getting educated,” McNealus said. “It’s been a learning season, a teaching season and it’s been a great year for that. These losses that we have are taken with a grain of salt because they are doing great things. I’ve been on both sides of things so I know but that’s the thing about high school tennis.”
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