By Sam Canavan
Sports Reporter
After a blazing 3-0 start to the season, the Newton South Boys’ tennis team lost five sets to zero on Wednesday to a strong Acton-Boxborough team, earning their first loss of the season.
Although the score may not reflect it, the team fought hard and lost many close matches.
One of South’s issues was their inability to finish sets. After gaining four to one leads in individual sets, they couldn’t find the extra push to earn the win.
“They [Newton South players] came out really strong in the second but could not close it out,” senior captain Jarryd Nissenbaum said.
The inability to finish rattled the Lions, draining the team as the matches progressed.
“We could not get it together mentally and pull through,” senior captain Michael Marget said.
Even with this tough loss, the Lions still have a positive outlook for the rest of the season.
“[We have] a good chance to run the table the rest of the season, beat every other team … go into the playoffs strong. That is what we are looking to do,” Marget said.
Even after finishing well last year, they believe the team has improved and think they have a chance for a great season this year.
The weather has been inconvenient for the Lions team, as rain has lead to the cancellation of multiple matches. However, the group is still confident in their ability to win.
“We came out expecting a pretty good fight from them. They were pretty good last year. We were expecting them to come out really strong and they were and last year they beat us and they were pretty close matches all around but this year was also pretty close,” Nissenbaum said.
After losing consecutive years to Acton-Boxborough, South is looking towards their rematch which is currently scheduled for May 6th.
“Next time we play A-B we are looking to take that next step and win the match and I think it will happen,” Marget said.
Coming up, he Lions hope to improve their record to four and one against Westford over April break.
