WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High boys’ tennis team finished their regular season strong this week with victories over Wilmington on Monday and Gloucester on Tuesday. The Warriors will enter the Div. 3 state tournament on a three-match winning streak. Since May 8, Wakefield has gone 7-1 in their final eight matches.
“All players have improved throughout the season,” said head coach Cheryl Connors. “They came to practice ready to learn and play. I can tell they really enjoy tennis.”
The Warriors concluded the regular season with a record of 11-6 and 8-2 in the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division, finishing 2nd.
Wakefield’s current three-match winning streak began last Friday with a 5-0 sweep of Watertown at the Dobbins Courts.
The Warriors celebrated their 10 seniors before the match: captains Kevin DeGray and Luke Greif along with Trevor Veilleux, Kip King, Owen Kelley, Ahmed Othman, Ankush Sharma, Gus Sanni, Wisely Chea and Yonas Lilay.
On the court, Wakefield made their fans proud as they cruised to wins in every match.
Greif won at first singles, 6-0, 6-1; Veilleux won at second singles, 6-0, 7-6 and DeGray won at third singles, 6-0, 6-0.
King and Othman won at first doubles, 6-0, 6-4. Kelley and Sharma were victorious at second doubles, 6-0, 6-2.
On Monday, the Warriors traveled to Wilmington and left town with a 4-1 win.
Othman and King rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 win at first doubles while Kelley and junior Connor Sliski won at second doubles, 6-4, 6-0.
DeGray was victorious at third singles, 6-2, 6-4 and Greif won at first singles by matching 6-2 scores.
Wakefield’s final match of the regular season came on Tuesday at home against Gloucester. It was a highly-anticipated rematch for the Warriors as the Fishermen ended Wakefield’s season in the Sweet 16 of the Div. 3 state tournament last year by a heartbreaking 3-2 score.
Wakefield got some revenge on Tuesday with a convincing 5-0 sweep.
Each match was over in two sets as the Warriors finished the regular season strong with plenty of momentum.
Grief (6-3, 6-1), Veilleux (6-0, 6-1) and DeGray (6-1, 6-0) cruised in singles matches as did Sliski and Kelley at second doubles (6-0, 6-2).
King and Othman worked hard to earn their two-set victory, taking set one, 6-3 before gutting out a 7-5 win in set two to finish up a great day for the home team.
“All players have really stepped up and played their hardest using strategies that we’ve been working on all season,” said Connors after the win. “They are a great group of boys and a pleasure to coach.”
The Warriors were ranked No. 15 in the latest D3 power rankings. So long as they stay in the top 16, Wakefield will be hosting a first round state tournament match next week for the second straight season. They beat Nauset 5-0 in the first round at the Dobbins Courts last year.
The brackets for this year’s Div. 3 state tournament were released today after press time and the tournament will begin on Tuesday.