LHS Boys Tennis Flying High Despite Rain

Not even this week’s inclement weather could rain on the parade of the Lexington High School boys’ tennis team.

Though the Minutemen’s match against Watertown High School was rained out on Wednessday, the team was still riding high after picking up its first big win of the season just a few days before.

On Monday, April 11, the Minutemen defeated perennial powerhouse Winchester High School, 3-2, in a matchup of what figure to be two of the top teams in the Middlesex League.

“Winchester’s one of the top teams in the league, so that’s always going to be a close match,” Lexington coach Chris Pugliese said. “To see the guys step up and beat a deep, experienced Winchester team, it just kind of grew our confidence a little bit and hopefully made us a little scarier in the league.”

What’s more, the Minutemen beat Winchester without the help of their No. 1 singles player, freshman Ben Tso. He was in California competing in the Easter Bowl, a prestigious tournament for high school tennis players.

“We are definitely psyched,” Pugliese said “We didn’t have our No. 1 player there, so we were playing Winchester without our best player.”

With the reshuffled lineup, Lexington took two of the singles matches and one of two in doubles competition.

At No. 1 singles, Mark Pronchick picked up the victory 6-1, 6-4. David Herrera beat Ben Davis at No. 2 singles 6-4, 7-5, with what proved to be the match-clinching point. Herman Luther fell 3-6, 1-6 in the No. 3 singles position.

Lexington won at No. 2 doubles, as Harry Nichols and Jonah Bader won 6-4, 6-3. In the closes match of the afternoon, Preston Wu and Dan Maffa fell 6-3, 3-6, 2-6.

Lexington and Watertown will make up their postponed match on April 28, Pugliese said. The Minutemen will return to the court this Friday to take on Reading Memorial High School.