2008 Boys Varsity A Tennis

Exeter got off to a great start in the first match of the season with a 6-1 win over Groton.  The boys earned the doubles point with aggressive play in all three matches.  Captain Mark Coutin '08 teamed with Sterling Hedderich '09 to win 8-4 at first doubles.  Will Abisalih '09 and Janusz Wojcik '08 quickly won the second doubles match 8-2, and the team of James Ying '09 and Paolo Shipman '08 secured the third match 8-3.  The whole team played well in singles with Coutin, Abisalih and Ying winning easily at #1, #3 and #6 respectively.  Wojcik and Paul Lee '09 had close matches at #4 and #5 and both came through with victories in third set tie-breakers.
Submitted by Coach Greene

The match against Loomis was very disappointing as the team had many opportunities for wins against a much improved Loomis team, but at the end of the day we came up empty.  Mark Coutin '08 and Sterling Hedderich '09 continued their dominating play at first doubles with an 8-2 win.  Although the second doubles team of Will Abisalih '09 and Janusz Wojcik '08 came very close, they lost 9-7 in what turned out to be the decisive doubles match.  In singles, Coutin, Hedderich, Abisalih and Ying '09 all played exciting three set matches, but unfortunately each of these matches went to Loomis.
Submitted by Coach Greene

The match started with Mark Coutin '08 and Sterling Hedderich '09 winning quickly at number one doubles.  Although the second and third doubles teams played hard, they were unable to come through with wins.  In singles, Coutin secured the only victory at #1 singles, although several of the other matches were quite close.  James Ying '09 lost in a tie-breaker at #6 after splitting the first two sets while Will Abisalih '09 and Paul Lee '09 lost in two close sets at #2 and #5 respectively.
Submitted by Coach Greene

The match against Andover was very exciting, and Exeter came close to pulling off a big upset.  Andover started by winning the doubles point, 2 matches to 1.  James Ying '09 and Frank Yu '09, playing their first match together, won 8-2 at third doubles.  In singles, Janusz Wojcik '08 and James Ying '09 won in straight sets at #5 and #6, while Will Abisalih '09 and Sterling Hedderich '09 were losing at #2 and #3, although both played very well against Foster Jebsen and Andrew Chan, both of whom are playing for their fourth year on the Andover varsity.  The most exciting match of the day was between Mark Coutin '08 and Trey Meyer at #1 singles.  Trey started quickly, jumping off to a 5-2 lead in the first set.  At that point, Mark mounted a great comeback and ended up winning the set in a tiebreaker (7-2).  The battle continued in the second set until Paul Lee '09 ended up losing a very close match at # 4 singles.  At that point with the two players on serve, Trey retired because of some elbow problems.
Submitted by Coach Greene

This match, which did not start until after 5 pm, was eventually decided just as the sun was setting. Exeter got off to a rough start in doubles losing the doubles point two to one.  All of the singles matches were well-played, with Paul Lee '09, Janusz Wojcik '08, and James Ying '09 winning at numbers four, five and six respectively.  Paul Lee won 6-2, 7-6, winning the second set tie-breaker by a score of 13 to 11. With the score tied at 3-all, Mark Coutin '08 was forced to play a tie-breaker to decide the second set.  After fighting off four consecutive match points Mark eventually lost the tie-breaker 11 to 9 to Thayer's #1 Tommy Darling.
Submitted by Coach Greene

Exeter got back on the winning track with a solid win over Cheshire Academy. The match was played at a neutral site, Clark University in Worcester. The three doubles teams were all victorious: #1 Mark Coutin '08 and Sterling Hedderich '09, #2 Will Abisalih '09 and Paul Lee '09, and #3 James Ying '09 and Frank Yu '09. Will played a strong match at #2 singles, winning 6-1, 6-4, and Paul, Janusz Wojcik '08, and James finished their matches quickly, all three winning 6-0, 6-0.
Submitted by Coach Greene

On Saturday, the tennis team had a very successful match against Northfield Mt. Hermon. All three doubles teams played well and were victorious. Janusz Wojcik '08 played particularly well filling in for the injured Sterling Hedderich '09 at #1 doubles. Mark Coutin '08 won 6-2, 6-4 at #1 singles. Will Abisalih '09 at #2,  had the most exciting match.  After splitting the first two sets, Will won the decisive super tiebreaker by a score of 10 to 4.  Paul Lee '09 moved up to #3 and won 6-4, 6-2, while Janusz, James Ying '09, and Frank Yu '09 won their matches at #4, #5, and #6.  In these final three matches, Exeter lost a total of one game.