Hart Indians boys’ tennis picked up its second league win on Thursday, with a road victory over the Saugus Centurions.
The Indians only lost matches in the first round of games before catching fire to close out the day with a 15-3 win.
Hart (2-3, 2-1) had clean sweeps in singles with impressive outings from Nixon Liescheidt, Anthony Lipa and Owen Rusk.
“I’m really proud of how hard our singles players have worked to get to the position where they are now,” Hart coach Ramsey Ramirez wrote in an email. “They have become some of the strongest singles players in the league. They really help our team in a lot of ways and I’m expecting them to be the key factor in our wins.”
Liescheidt and Lipa both finished with perfect days of 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 wins, while Rusk only dropped three points.
Saugus (1-7, 0-4) saw its doubles teams come out strong and took all three opening matches including a 7-6, (9-7) win from Centurions No. 3 doubles team Mykhail Tezai and Jacob White.
“Mykhail and Jacob dominated as a team on JV last year and actually lost to the Hart three’s last year,” Saugus coach Bailey Sindle wrote in an email. “Their 7-6 (9-7) win in the first round was not only big for us as a team, but I know it meant a lot to them, too.”
Hart No. 1 doubles duo of David Auerbach and Joseph Lopez dropped their opening match 6-3 to Saugus No. 1 doubles Tate Franti and Hunter Dustin. The Indian duo rebounded well and won their next two matches, 6-0 and 6-3.
No one battled on the courts longer than Hart No. 3 doubles team of Vincent Barbano and Bryan Wynn. After dropping their first match to Tezai and White, the Hart duo hopped back into the win column with 6-4 and 6-3 wins.
Hart’s Jayden Serrano and Charlier Haslam also brought in two points with 6-0 and 6-2 wins.
Ramirez believes his doubles teams are all locked in for the season while Sindle, who has coached several of the top doubles pairs in the Foothill League over the last few years, is still playing around with lineups.
“We shuffled doubles around quite a bit the first few weeks,” Sindle said. “We like the teams we had against Hart and think that with some fine tuning and practice with their respective partners, that each team can be quite the duo. They mesh well and build on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention, they sure are fun to watch.”
Sindle is excited for the future of her program with her roster being sophomore-heavy up on varsity after Saugus saw nine seniors graduate last season.
“My goal is to build their confidence,” Sindle said. “There were some jitters earlier this season with some of the younger guys, but they have settled in nicely. Every match I tell them to give their 100% and so far they’ve done that. They give their all and leave nothing behind. I have a team that wants to win and will work hard to earn it. I feel extremely fortunate in that regard because what else could I ask for?”
Hart returned some key players who will continue to lead the way for the new faces.
“For the most part, I’m seeing tremendous growth in the skills of our players and in their confidence in each other and in themselves,” Ramirez said. “My goal for the team is to continue this trajectory of self and team improvement, wherever in the standings that takes us.”
