Twin Brothers Lead Lake Braddock Tennis to Victory Over West Springfield

As identical twins, Lake Braddock High School seniors Geoffrey and Donovan Lawhorn, have no qualms with giving each other some not so subtle tips on the tennis court. And so, when Geoffrey’s serve was faltering in the opening game of their doubles match against West Springfield on Friday, Donovan was right there with some friendly advice. Just get it in.

Soon enough, he was doing just that, and the dynamic duo, who model their game after another set of identical twins- the Bryan Brothers- dispatched Scott Gibson and Andy Gholson, 10-3. The Lawhorn twins also posted singles wins, playing- what else- right next to each other, in the number 3 and 4 singles slots, as the Bruins whitewashed the Spartans 9-0 in the first match of the year.

“They do have some synergy out there and they also yell at each other, get on each other’s nerves a bit,” said Bill Hughes, their coach.  “They’re more comfortable going at each other a little bit and that can go either way.”

On Friday everything seemed to click for the Bruins, who are the district’s defending champions and odds-on favorite to repeat this year. The Spartans were without their number 1 singles player, Andrew Curtis, but even he couldn’t have saved them.  Lake Braddock’s players simply had bigger games- more powerful serves, deeper, more penetrating ground strokes, and better net play.

Lake Braddock freshman Long Huynh had an impressive start to his high school tennis career- posting a 10-2 win in the 6^th singles match, and teaming with senior Matt Belcher (who also won his match, in the 5^th singles slot, 10-3) to bagel Andrew Brown and Greg Hoobchaak, 10-0 in the third doubles slot. But the day began on a shaky note, as he had to wear white, while the rest of his teammates were in blue, due to the fact that the team’s uniforms didn’t arrive on time for the opening match. Then he fell behind early, losing the first two games of the match before reeling off ten straight to vanquish senior Greg Hoobchaak.

“I was down 2-0 and I had to get my head into the game and get comfortable, I was just shaky and nervous, I was missing my serves, I just told myself, ‘I got this, I can do it,’” Huynh said.

Lake Braddock’s senior co-captains, Ian Huang, who plays number one singles, and David Kim, who plays number two, had no such jitters, as they both racked up impressive 10-1 wins in singles, and then teamed up in doubles and won again by the same score.

The two have been playing against each other since the 6^th grade, and have maintained a friendship despite competing against one another so frequently over the years.

“I was pretty excited, this is my last year so it was really fun to get back out on the court again and play,” Huang said after the match.  “My serve was key- most of the time my serve is really important for me.”

Huang’s serve is a sound to behold. If you’re within a few hundred feet of it, you can hear it- like a sonic boom, or a missile taking flight.

Lake Braddock certainly left no doubt that they were the superior team- Huang and Kim’s biggest concern often seemed to be reclaiming balls that rolled onto adjacent courts- but the Spartans fought gamely and also showed flashes of occasional brilliance.

Nick Milef won just one game, but didn’t look out of place in his first match in the number one singles slot; Matt Veenstra, who has shown steady progress in moving up from the 7, to the 5, and now to the 3 singles slot, came the closest to earning his team a point, falling 10-6 to Geoffrey Lawhorn; and Scott Gibson showed off some solid ground strokes in his 10-5 loss to Donovan Lawhorn.

But the day belonged to Lake Braddock and its twins, who, by the way, aren’t exactly identical: they applied to the same five schools, but Geoffrey also applied to a sixth; they wield difference rackets, and Geoffrey won his match 10-6, while Donovan won his 10-5.

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