Foxborough High Boys' Tennis Team Tunes Up for Tournament

For one team, it was the end of the season, but for the other one, the season marches on. 

In their finale, the Norton High Lancers’ boys’ tennis team took to the courts in a nonleague matchup against the Foxborough Warriors at Norton Middle School, Friday. Despite some close matches, the Lancers’ could only muster up one win in their 4-1 defeat to the tournament-bound Warriors.

“Give all the credit to the kids," said Warrior head coach Dan Damish. "They’ve done a good job of working out in the offseason, getting new kids out, and it’s been a fun year.”

Avenging his loss from their previous matchup, P. J. Levesque defeated Wes Young. Unlike last time where Levesque was battling a broken racquet in addition to Young, Levesque bounced back from a 5-7 loss in the first set to win the second set, 7-5, and then the third set, 6-0.

“I think this is the best match he’s ever played,” Norton head coach Courtney Greene said. “He just came out really aggressive in the second set and gained enough momentum to build off his opponent’s frustration. He was just able to run with it from there.”

In the second and third single matches, Foxborough senior captain Peter Gallagher defeated Mike Adler, 6-4, 6-3, in the second singles match while Luke Schaaf defeated Norton's Justin Baird, 6-0, 6-3.

In the first doubles match, the Foxborough team of Tyler Aubuchon and Aiden Hyland battled Kolin Campbell and Chris Ricca to a 1-1 draw after two sets. Despite being down 0-3 in the final set, Aubuchon and Hyland came back to win the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

“They didn’t want to lose, they’re competitive athletes. Give Norton credit too they played a great match,” Damish said of the first doubles match.

While there was praise from Damish, there was only frustration from the Lancers’ as they lost what was a winnable set for the first doubles team.

“They’ve had a great season," Greene said, "They just didn’t play their best today. They just made too many mistakes and the other team played better.”

Over at the second doubles match, Fabrice Louis-Letang and Brian Bortolotti of Foxborough bested Norton's team of Taylor Marcon and Brandon Jenkins, 6-2, 6-2.

While the Lancers’ season has come to a close, the Warriors will go to the Division 2 South tournament for the first time in years.

"It feels awesome," Gallagher said. "We had a lot of new kids come up and they really just took over and they really contributed a lot this season."

With Gallagher as the team’s only senior, the Warriors still have plenty of potential left as a tennis team for future seasons.

"Coach Damish taught me everything. I know he’s going to teach the kids a lot and they’re definitely going to get a lot better," Gallagher said.

The Warriors will find out their fate next week when the MIAA releases tournament pairings next week.