Executing at a high-caliber level, the No. 3 Newton South boys tennis team defeated No. 6 Concord-Carlisle, 4-1, in the Div. 1 North Sectional quarterfinals Monday afternoon.
“It was a good win,” said Lions head coach Pat McFarland. “We had some really good performances from Eli Kaganov, our number one doubles team, and also Adam Kalowski.
The Lions (16-1) will hope to maintain or even raise their performance level as they advance to the semi-finals where they will take on No. 2 St. John’s Prep (17-1). The match is slated for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Eagles’ court.
McFarland knows one of the match’s many challenges will be his first doubles unit facing the state champions, who they recently lost to 6-1, 6-1.
“Wednesday is another day,” he said. “They know what they have to do.”
The Patriots (14-7), meanwhile, end their tournament run despite a competitive effort.
“We came out and we played well,” said C-C head coach Alex Spence. “You know, Newton South is a very good team from top to bottom and I think they showed it today. They played well at their strengths. Their doubles are extremely well coached. They’re singles guys are poised. We came out and made our runs and they withstood them. And they closed out the matches that were close.”
The Lions' lone loss Monday came when first singles Taylor Epstein was swept in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 by the three-time state champion Alex Steinroeder.
“He’s been spectacular since his freshman year,” Spence said of Steinroeder. “If he isn’t the best to play high school tennis in the last few years, he’s got to be up there.”
But as dominating as the Patriots were in the first singles, the Lions were equally so in the first doubles match with Aaron Belowich and Emrecan Yener defeating Tom Kleyn and Adam Shoemaker 6-1, 6-1.
In the second doubles, Newton South’s Jonah Schwartz and Justin Lew grabbed the first set 6-2 and were up in the second 3-0. But Patriots Matt Japko and Josh Zirkel fought back to win the second 6-3, before the Lions’ duo was able to close them out in the third set 6-3.
Kaganov won a hard-battled second singles match 6-3, 6-2 while teammate Kalowski earned a triumph in the third singles 6-1, 6-1.
“That’s some of the best tennis I’ve seen him play,” McFarland commented on Kalowski. “He was patient and picked the right time to be aggressive.”
