Brookline Tennis Edges Lexington for D-1 E-Mass Title

By Eliot Schickler

The Brookline High boys tennis team advanced to the Division 1 State Championship with a 3-2 win over Lexington High Monday at Newton North High.

Brookline raised its record to 23-0 and will face Central Mass. Champion Algonquin High (19-2) Thursday at 4 p.m. at St. John’s High in Shrewsbury. Lexington ended its season at 22-2.

Going into Monday’s match, those who are knowledgeable on Massachusetts Scholastic tennis believed that the winner Brookline’s showdown against the Minutemen would win Thursday’s match against Algonquin. Lexington’s only setbacks this spring came at the hands of the Warriors. The Warriors won 4-0 at home over the Minutemen May 23, but both squads were missing key players.

With the win, Brookline, who beat the Algonquin Tomahawks 5-0 at home May 29 in a regular season match, will be shooting for its second straight Division 1 State title.

“It felt great,” said Warriors coach Nick Pero. “We came out on top the first time we faced Algonquin, but Thursday’s match will be more difficult. They are a great team and we know what to expect. It’s on our rackets. If we play our game, we’ll be fine.”

First and third singles have been reliable spots in Brookline’s ladder and both players came through for the defending state champs. The one newcomer to the lineup, freshman Jayanth Devaiah was dominant at third singles and convincingly delivered the first point of the match with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lexington senior Roger Lacson.

“I just needed to stay intense and focused on my technique,” Devaiah said. “I did what my coach told me to do.”

Although Devaiah is a rookie, he’s deft in remaining poised and doesn’t allow the situation to rattle him.

“I did feel some pressure, but this team has been great all year and it takes the pressure off of you,” Devaiah said. “Having teammates who win and play their hearts out makes it easier. Lexington is a good team and facing them is added pressure, but we came through in the end.”

Sophomore Sam Feldman was last year’s Bay State Conference’s MVP and maintained his top form with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at first singles over Lexington junior Kyle McCandless.

“We all played our hearts out,” Feldman said. “We put it out there and managed to pull through.”

McCandless is one of the better players in the state and was challenging to Feldman. However, Feldman’s serve was working and adroitly found his spots in hitting winners.

Feldman also played a smart match and forced McCandless into many hitting errors. The match ended on the Warrior sophomore’s serve, which led to McCandless hitting the ball away from the courts, giving Brookline a 2-1 overall lead.

“I was trying to be aggressive with my forehand and attack,” Feldman said. “I tried to put [the shots] away with my forehand.”

Pero was pleased with Feldman’s and Devaiah’s performance. “Sam and Jay did what they have done all year,” he said.

Securing the victory was important for Feldman because all Brookline needed was one more win with two matches still going on.

“There was a ton of pressure for everyone, but we made it look routine,” Feldman said.

The Warriors were in good hands with their reliable first doubles team of senior captain Josh Fleishman and junior captain Ben Moolman dominating Minutemen senior Charles Wang and junior Aaron Chen, 6-2, 6-3.

“We knew we had to win at first doubles with our captains, a four-year starter and a three-year starter,” Pero said. “They just came out there and they took it.”

Fleishman and Moolman are the Individual South Sectional Doubles Champions and they especially displayed their winning form in controlling the first set. They both slammed winners off of Wang’s and Chen’s bodies and there was no doubt they would take the opening set.

“Knowing who wins our match was a huge indication of who will win the overall match fueled us,” Fleishman said. “We had energy from the beginning, which pulled us through.”

Moolman said, “I think it was energy. We were positive from the start and stayed focused throughout the match.”

Although Fleishman and Moolman were in control, Wang and Chen didn’t make it easy for Brookline’s duo and battled back in the second set. After the Warrior captains took a 4-1 lead, the Minutemen pair – knowing that the whole team’s season was on the line – picked it up a few notches with two straight wins – the latter on a service break to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Moreover, Brookline went from being up a service break to Lexington placing the battle to be on serve. However, Fleishman and Moolman didn’t wilt and answered with a service break to go up 5-3. Fleishman served for the match. Following Moolman’s down the line passing shot winner, Fleishman then closed it out when his serve forced Lexington’s hitting error to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead and the overall match.

“It was the state of mind we were in,” Moolman said. “We were focused and pumped and kept on pumping each other up.”

Fleishman said, “We stayed focused and didn’t get ahead of ourselves. We took it point by point and shot by shot.”

At second singles, Warrior sophomore Noah Schwartz showed grit the entire match and kept on battling back. Schwartz served more than 20 aces the entire match, but Minuteman senior Patrick Bodrog was also spot on with his serves. In the end, Bodrog prevailed, 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1).

There were many instances when the southpaw Schwartz looked like he was on the verge of breaking Bodrog. But in each instance, Bodrog bounced back and was able to hold serve.

In the third set, Bodrog scored a service break to go up 4-2 and added another win to make it 5-2. However, Brookline’s lefty displayed his pride and was determined to battle back in his quest to give the Warriors a 4-1 triumph (Brookline already clinched the overall match). Schwartz made it 5-3 with a service ace and followed it up with a service break to stay alive and make it 5-4. The Southpaw then served three aces, the last won which clinched the point and tied the set at 5-5.

Bodrog then used his experience to hold serve despite trailing, 15-40. Schwartz closed out the next game with two service aces to force the tiebreaker, which Bodrog won handily.

At second doubles, senior captain Aaron Fleishman and junior Kei Ogawa played well for Brookline, but sophomore Ed Lacson and freshman Sam Charney were better. The younger Lacson and Charney delivered a point for Lexington, 7-5, 6-3, tying the overall match at 1-1 at the time.

By winning the grueling match, the Warriors earned a rematch with Algonquin. Although Brookline swept the Tomahawks, it’s not taking anything for granted.

“It will be about staying focused,” Moolman said. “We know we can do it, but we have to go out there and do it again. We can’t go in expecting to win.”

Josh Fleishman said, “If we play with the same energy we had today, we’ll be fine.”

Provided that the Warriors duplicate their May 29 result against Algonquin, they will win their second straight State title, which gives them even more motivation than normal (if that’s plausible).

“Winning one state title is sweet, but to win two straight state titles will be sweeter,” Pero said.