Tempers Flare as Knights Tennis Advances

North Andover edged out Malden 3-2 yesterday in the MIAA Division 2 North Quarterfinals. The Knights move on to the sectional semifinals which will be against Camrbidge tomorrow. Cambridge, the tournament's 10th seed, will travel up to North Andover, the sixth seed, for the match beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Yesterday's match featured some intense competition and controversy. 

North Andover took both doubles matches in straight sets, while Malden countered with a decisive win in the first singles pairing, leaving two hard fought singles matches to play out.

The first featured Malden captain Andrew DeLacey against North Andover’s top singles player . DeLacey won the first 6-3, but Terranova battled back, taking the second set 6-4. Terranova, however, couldn’t stop the Malden senior, as DeLacey took the final set and match, 6-3.

“I knew we needed my match just as much as everyone else’s,” said DeLacey. “With all the commotion from the other match, my head got out of the game in the second set, but I got focused and came back to win.”

Controversial Call Led to Argument, Altercation

The commotion came from the over two-and-a-half-hour match on the neighboring court between Malden’s Jeff Duong and North Andover’s Sherwin Yamin. After Yamin took the first set, 6-2, an argument erupted between the two when Yamin questioned one of Duong’s boundary calls (as officials are only supplied at later stages in the tournament, all calls are made by players on the court).

With the hometown crowd favoring Duong’s call, Yamin made a lewd gesture towards the crowd, angering Duong. After the argument progressed, Duong removed his shirt and crossed onto Yamin’s end of the court. At this point both coaches intervened, separating the two.

“I’ve never seen a player take off his shirt and threaten another player before. He probably should’ve been ejected,” said North Andover coach Paul Bergesen. “In any other sport you have a referee. I think there needs to be a referee to break up altercations like this.”

Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and play continued with Duong coming from behind to take the second set, 7-5. When the third set began, Yamin’s right leg cramped up lunging after a ball, and he quickly fell behind, 5-0.

“I was going to give up, but then, after I won the next two games, my coach told me there was still some hope, and that helped me come back,” said Yamin.

Yamin counter attacked by drawing Duong around court, making him do most of the running. Using this technique, Yamin came back to win, 7-5.

“My leg still hurts, but I can go home happy now,” said Yamin.

The Knights ended Malden's season with a 14-4 record. The underdog Knights improved their record to 14-4 with the win.