Wayland coasts to D2 North title
After a frustrating 2016 season, the Wayland boys tennis team is once again on top of the mountain. The No. 3 Warriors defeated No. 12
Belmont yesterday in Newton, to capture the Division 2 North title, their third in four years. The Warriors did not relinquish a single set to Belmont (12-8).
Singles stars Charlie Sharton and Jaylen Wang led the way for Wayland, defeating Caleb Harris and Jackson Luce 6-0, 6-0, and 6-1, 6-0 respectively. Both players did not take part in the postseason last year.
“This year is exciting because we have Jaylen back and healthy again so we picked up where we left off,” said Sharton.
“It feels great,” Wang said, “There’s nothing better than just to come back in my junior year and try to get a state title.”
Beyond Sharton and Wang, Wayland (16-2) scored victories from the back end of its roster. Will Barton topped Anton Kutsman without dropping a game at No. 3 singles. While in doubles, Gage Fuller/Will Gardner and Evan Curtin/Zhenyang Luo swept Belmont’s teams 6-1, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-4, respectively. Wellesley 3, Newton North 2 — Even though the top-seeded Raiders had defeated the No. 3 Tigers twice during the regular season, coach Mike Sabin expected a dogfight in the Div. 1 South final and that’s what he got.
The match came down to first singles where Alex Kley defeated Jack Vasu, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-5 to give Wellesley the sectional title.
“Even though we beat them twice, the matches could have gone either way,” Sabin said. “We’ve been on the court with them for more than seven hours in the matches, so I knew (it) was going to be tough. I was really happy it came down to Alex because he is one of our leaders.”
Wellesley (20-2) also won at second singles where Alex Novins coasted to a 6-0, 6-1 victory and at first doubles where the tandem of Patrick Kley and Michael Ryan prevailed in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Girls
Westford Acad. 4, Lexington 1 — The fifth-seeded Grey Ghosts (135) swept the singles and went on to defeat the No. 3 Minutemen to capture the Div. 1 North title.
Coach Tracy Capone pointed to the ever-competitive Dual County League for helping them get ready for the postseason.
“It’s definitely tough, going up against those teams,” Capone said. “Playing teams like Newton South, Wayland and Concord-Carlisle prepare us for the high-pressure situations you face in the tournament. Fortunately, we were able to rise to the occasion.”
Westford won all three singles matches without losing a set as No. 1 Veronica Op (6-4, 6-3), No. 2 Claire Yu (6-1, 6-0) and No. 3 Brooke Leonard (6-1, 6-3) coasted to wins. The fourth point came at second doubles where Andee Song and Caitlin Cannuscio came back to record a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. Wayland 3, Concord-Carlisle 2 — The Warriors picked up two gutsy three-set victories to edge the No. 4 Patriots for the Div. 2 North crown.
“I was really proud of my girls. They were resilient … they never gave up, never got frazzled and ultimately came out on top,” said Wayland coach Erin Reeves.
With the match tied at 2-2, Audrey Camacho rallied after a second-set loss to drop C-C’s Celene Machen, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.