No. 1 singles player Matthew Holowinski ’26 and no. 4 singles player Oscar Deluca ’27 both won their matches after tie-breaking sets while no. 3 singles player Matthew Bartoszewicz ’27 and no. 4 doubles team Henry Logan ’27 and Jackson Kean ’27 defeated North in straight sets.
“We’ve had our highs and our lows, but today is a high,” Jackson Kean said. “I haven’t been playing for long, so I’d just like to improve.”
Coach Brian Kean says that one of their main weaknesses as a team is the lack of older players. Their team dynamic and mutual support has evidently proved to be equally important.
“I think this year has been the best as far as team camaraderie and banding together,” Brian Kean said. “Our goal was to at least tie North, which we did, and then we have regionals coming up and our goal is to place second place, ahead of North.”
Unlike South’s lack of upperclassmen players, seven of North’s twelve players are seniors. North coach John VanAlst says that this is a main contributor to their success this season.
“Our senior leadership is definitely one of our strengths on our team and just the overall experience on the team because we have had a lot of returning players for two or three years,” VanAlst said.
Another main contributor to success is the teamwork and collaboration of North’s current players.
“They enjoy each other’s company,” VanAlst said. “They hangout after practice, before practice, they go and hit on their own together in large groups. It’s an amazing atmosphere.”
After securing the MAC Red title, VanAlst continues to set objectives for the remainder of the season.
“The goals that we set out for this season were to win the MAC Red, which we did,” VanAlst said. “One was to beat South. Well, we came really close. The other one is to make another return trip to the state finals, and we’re about to find out in a couple weeks.”
