ITEM FILE PHOTO
Swampscott No. 1 singles player Matt Jacobs continued his strong play on Wednesday, winning his match against Classical, 6-1, 6-0.
By MATT FRASER, MIKE ALONGI and NATALIE DURAZO
With a breeze coming from the east making conditions a little difficult, the Swampscott boys tennis team was able to pull off a strong victory over Lynn Classical, 4-1, on Wednesday in Swampscott.
The Big Blue (3-3) received three wins in singles and one win in doubles. In the first singles match, Matt Jacobs cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win, while teammate Sam Mayblyum won, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 and Will Talebian closed out the singles matches with a 6-2, 6-0 win.
In doubles, Swampscott collected a win from the duo of Daniel Popovskiy/ Ben Ringler with a winning score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
“All the guys were really focused coming out winning four out of the five matches, and the lone match we lost went to a three-setter,” said Big Blue coach Neil Whitehouse after the win.
Austin Prep 3, St. Mary’s 2
The Spartans were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten by the visiting Cougars in what was a terrific match, particularly at singles.
Brady Ryan (6-4, 6-4 over Luke Wyman) and Conor Foley (6-2, 2-6, 6-3 over Alexi Gilmour) scored wins at first and third singles for St. Mary’s (8-1) while Matt McManus dropped a thriller, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 2-6 to Eric Kim from the second spot.
The Catholic Central League rivals will meet again on May 5 in Reading.
Beverly 4, Gloucester 1
No. 1 Peter Coletti (6-2, 6-1) and No. 2 Dylan LeBlanc (6-1, 6-0) secured singles victories, helping the Panthers to their sixth win in as many matches to begin the season.
Beverly swept up in doubles with wins from Colin Oliver/Frederico Poncini (6-1, 6-1) and Skyler Crean/Oliver Gibson, with the latter pair prevailing in three sets (5-7, 6-4, 6-2).
GIRLS
English 5, Saugus 0
In a sweep of the Sachems, the host Bulldogs (4-4) received singles wins from No. 1 Lily Vu (7-5, 6-0), No. 2 Regina Ngaleu (6-4, 6-2) and No. 3 Jasmin Chhim (6-3, 6-0).
In doubles action, English’s first team of Molly Nhiv/Victoria Say prevailed 6-1, 6-0 while the second team of Jennifer Benivades/Kimberly Rodriguez scored a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Austin Prep 5, St. Mary’s 0
Despite strong singles performances from No. 2 Haleigh King and No. 3 Stephanie Letch, whom, according to coach Jim McHugh, “continues to show improvement,” the Spartans (3-6) failed to win a match against the host Cougars.
Lynn Classical 3, Swampscott 2
Classical continued their strong play winning their eighth match of the season. Meredith MacDonald won her singles match, 6-4, 6-2, and the pairings of Shea Dunnigan/ Briana Silva (6-4, 6-1) and Ashley Noel/Zoe Raymond, who closed the victory for the Rams (8-1), won their doubles match, 6-1, 6-2.
“I am so proud of the team today, it was a great team win today,” said Classical coach Cathy Ellis.
Peabody 4, Salem 1
With strong performances from both singles and doubles Peabody beat the Salem Witches bringing their record to 4-5 on the season.
Tori Thompson played a flawless first set winning 6-0, but had to fight to the end in the second set, winning 7-6 in a tiebreak. Isabela Valencia won her match in two sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. In doubles, April Horwarth and Shaelyn Kelly went the distance, eventually winning in three sets with the third being a tiebreak. Serena Laro and Chrisly Bigiku won their doubles match 6-2, 6-1.