Senior Kalsang Sonam preparing to serve. Photo by David Cartledge.
On April 5th, the Boys Tennis team started their season especially well, winning their first match against Triton Regional High School with a score of four to one. When asked about the outcome of the game, Coach Gagnon stated that he was “Excited, but not surprised. [He] was relieved that [they] were able to keep their values which are if you don’t go to the practices, you won’t play in the games”
Last season was Coach Gagnon’s first year with the Tennis team, and because of that last season was a learning season for the team. This year however, is the first season when they are able to fully focus on the game and not worry about learning it as much. Coach Gagnon said that “Definitely, last year [they] spent a lot more time on the basics of the game. Things like the lines, and scoring.”
One of the players that performed especially well this game was Junior Thomas Tran. Coach Gagnon said that during that game, he “Dominated his opponent. His Serving was good and he kept pressure on his opponent.” Thomas ended up winning his match with a score of 6-0.
By the end of the game, the team had completed some of the goals that they had set. Coach Gagnon said that he wanted the “Varsity players to play their hardest, and [he] wanted to get the normal lineup figured out.”
When asked about goals for the upcoming games, team member Luis Gilbert said that “The biggest goal for right now is to win as many games as possible.” Coach Gagnon said that some of his goals for the season would be “Keep momentum going and keep regular line up.” and that “The game against Triton was the first in the season, but not the first team [they] have gone up against in the league, because Triton is from a different league.” So Lynn English will be their first team that they face in the same league as them.
Although Triton was the first game that they played, it was not the first team that they will have to face in their league. However, Coach Gagnon doesn't feel that they played to their full potential, stating that “Triton didn’t play their best, and the competition will get tougher because Triton was not in [their] league.” The Malden team has been fortunate this year because they have had more practice outside than other teams, who have only had one practice outdoors.
One of the starters and key players on the team is Junior Luis Gilbert. When asked about his performance in the game, he stated that “[He] thinks [he] preformed alright, [he] lost however, and [he] feels that [his] first game was a strong effort and that [he] just needed to get those first game jitters out.” Luis feels that “[He] needs to work on some things such a foot work and being consistent.”
Overall, the team performed very well. Winning their first game is a big accomplishment, and Luis feels that “[He] thinks the rest of the team performed amazingly, everyone else won which showed a strong positive start to the season.” Even though Triton was not in the same league as them, they still dominated the team, winning 4 out of their 5 games.
