Amherst is cooking with functionally the same ingredients this boys tennis season as the dish that won a Western Massachusetts Division 1 title last spring.
The Hurricanes return eight players from their first sectional championship squad since 1994, and five of them were in the lineup that took down East Longmeadow for the trophy.
“We know each other really well. We’ve been together for a while. In that sense, it’s definitely been easy,” said Amherst senior Aengus Cox. “I think that we are putting pressure on ourselves, hopefully in a positive way, knowing that we can achieve a lot if we stay focused.”
Graduation did leave a hole at the top of the lineup when No. 1 singles player James Serhant moved on to Connecticut College, where he’s already contributing as a freshman. Most programs would struggle to fill in after losing a regular western Mass. semifinalist, but Amherst’s pieces slid into place.
Cox moved up from No. 2 singles to the top spot and has gone 3-0 so far this season (Amherst is off to a 4-0 start).
But that left a gap at his old spot, which Amherst filled with a somewhat unfamiliar face. Senior Zach Richards moved to Amherst from Dubai last spring and practiced with the Hurricanes during the stretch run and postseason. He knew some of his teammates from soccer, as well, and was a perfect addition.
Richards has won two matches at No. 2 singles and stepped up to No. 1 for Amherst’s match against Agawam, delivering there, too.
“The addition of Zach kind of makes the loss of James hurt less,” Amherst coach Jeremy Wise said.
The Hurricanes haven’t quite settled on their doubles teams, using different combinations in most matches. But that has been a smooth process because of how well they communicate and play with each other.
“The chemistry is really good with this team. That was nice to have so many players returning,” Amherst freshman Miles Jeffries said.
DOUBLE SINGLE — Playing No. 1 singles for the Belchertown boys tennis team can be a thankless job. It often involves a converted soccer player coach Zach Siano recruited from his other team taking his lumps against specialized opponents in high level matches. But this spring two contenders are vying for the No. 1 spot: senior Thomas Vinagre and sophomore Trevor Weiss.
Vinagre has the reins in the early going, but he’ll need to stay sharp to fend off Weiss in their challenge matches for the top spot.
“Trevor’s young and Tommy’s the captain, so he should be in that one spot, realistically, but Trevor is gunning for him. Between those two guys and our first doubles team is very strong,” Siano said, “we’ll piece it together from there.”
Only two players graduated from Belchertown’s repeat Div. 3 sectional championship team last season, but the Orioles lost some to soccer commitments and injuries. They’re facing a challenging schedule, so early losses may pave the way for future victories.
“It’s a pseudo rebuilding year for us,” Siano said. “We’re hoping within the next couple weeks we can start humming along and figuring things out. We want to play against that top league and we want to play against the best competition western Mass. has.”
FINALS MOMENTUM IN BELCHERTOWN — The Orioles reached the girls’ Division 1 sectional final last season but couldn’t end Longmeadow’s five-year run with the trophy. But the experience of that finals loss is pushing Belchertown this season. Four members of that lineup have returned and pushed the team to a 4-0 start.
Ava Shea and Amber Drummond have each slid up the lineup one spot to No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, and Zoe Bate began playing singles at No. 3 after competing in doubles last year.
YOUTH SERVED FOR NORTHAMPTON — Jeanne Mei Mangan Larouche is already a veteran No. 1 singles player as a freshman for the Blue Devils after also holding down the spot as an eighth grader last season. She’s already ranked the No. 12 player in Massachusetts and No. 31 in New England by tennisrecruiting.net.
KEEPING ON — South Hadley girls coach Eric Cestero is in his 26th year leading the Tigers. He’s also an assistant coach for Mount Holyoke.
WELCOME & WELCOME BACK — For the first time ever, Frontier Regional is fielding a boys tennis team. Previously, the Redhawks girls tennis team also had boys in its lineup. That regularly necessitated Frontier playing in the boys team tournament rather than bar its male athletes from competing. The Redhawks won their first three matches.
South Hadley’s boys team has also returned after a year hiatus. The Tigers won a sectional title as recently as 2018.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.