Coach's Brief: Norwood Boys Tennis Beats Dedham, 5-0

From Coach John Churchill

Norwood 5, Dedham 0

1s: Owen Smith (12) 6-2, 6-2, Clark Macon (10)
2s: Liam Kelly (11) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, Peter Swan (12)
3s: Michael Breen (11) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, Nick Garcia (10)
1d: Walter Aspinwall (11) and Nathan Jones (9) 6-4, 6-3, David St. Cyr (11) and Brendan Flis (9)
2d: Ben Richwine (12) and Jason Najm (11) 7-6, 7-5, 6-1, Vinny Poncia (11) and Kameel Rachman (9)

This was a very big win for us today. Dedham is not as strong this year due to the players they lost after last season, but this win also speaks to the progress we have made as a team. This match did not begin comfortably for us, but we were able to pull out wins in all of the matches.

We made good use of vacation week by virtually all the guys available giving hours of effort, every day possible, to prepare for our upcoming matches. The benefits of that effort were most clearly seen in our doubles wins, which were both in straight sets. The doubles players are making better decisions over the course of their matches and playing more aggressively.

A major highlight of this match, for us, was Owen Smith earning his first win at the no. 1 singles position. He played on his experience and really earned the victory. He has not played a poor match this year, so it was nice to see him come out on top.

Liam and Michael played the closest matches. They both started off with tough first set losses. Then, they both found a rhythm in the second set. Liam continued his momentum into the third set and won a bit more easily. Michael was in a battle to the finish and really played a courageous match.

In doubles, Nathan and Walter were able to seize control of the match after a close first set and win in straight sets. After starting the season with 3 close losses, they have developed more coordination as a team and have won their last two matches.

The second doubles team of Ben Richwine and Jason Najm also won their second match in a row in straight sets. They have both improved significantly in the recent weeks, and have really earned their spots as starters. There are three or four other players on the team that are not too far behind them in ability, and that has pushed them all to be at their best.

Now that we have obtained some confidence from the couple of wins thus far, the match up tomorrow against Milton is huge for us. When we saw Milton last in very first match of the season, we lost by the closest of margins. I believe we have come a long way, so I think we are all looking forward to a second chance to prevail. We expect another hard-fought battle with them.