Sachems Tennis Team Cruises Past Reading

Coming off a strong regular season in which the just lost out on a Middlesex League title at the hands of state powerhouse Lexington, the Sachems were awarded the No. 1 seed in the Division 2 north bracket.

After getting a bye in the preliminary round, the Sachems played host to league rival Reading in the quarterfinals and dismantled the Rockets with a 5-0 win.

“You know, we came out really strong, we’ve been working hard all week trying to get every part of our game sharp, steady and focused, and they really executed that today,” Winchester head coach Tobe Okoye said after the match. “Right off the bat my two doubles teams came out strong and put two points on the board for us, and from there everything else sort of fell into place.”

The Sachems doubles teams set the tone for the match early. The first doubles duo of Alex Saich and Erik Meiler made quick work of Reading’s Rob Devaney and Alex Krugman, defeating the Rockets’ tandem to the tune of a 6-0, 6-1 win. The second doubles team of Matt Roll and Mike Laurentano, who have played together for much of the season, followed suit with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Reading’s Jarius Polley and Brendan Sullivan.

From there, it was the Sachem’s three singles players who finished things off and sealed the win for Winchester. At first singles, senior Christian Boulanger picked up where he left off in the regular season, knocking off Reading’s Tyler Bova 6-2, 6-0.

It was a strong performance from the Sachems’ leader as Boulanger controlled the match from start to finish.

“Christian is always a leader for us at one singles and he came out today with a strong performance once again,” Okoye said of his No. 1 player. “I thought he served really well today which translated into more control of his shots, and he just did a great job today.”

Sophomore Jake Criss beat Mark Cusolito of Reading 6-1, 7-5 at third singles. After a quick first set, Cusolito battled back hard in the second set but Criss stuck with his game plan and held on for the win. Senior Ben Davis completed the sweep for Winchester with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alec Tzianabos at second singles.

“It can sometimes be tough to play a team you’ve played before because there is some familiarity and maybe some cockiness, but the guys did a really good job of focusing on their task and getting it done today,” said Okoye.