The 2015 edition of the Pinkerton Academy varsity boys’ tennis team enjoyed a strong campaign, posting a 11-3 record and snagging the sixth seed in the Division I tournament.
Coach Brian Hashem – a former Pinkerton tennis stalwart – saw his crew’s involvement in the tourney last just one match, which ended with a loss to the third-seeded Concord High Crimson Tide.
Hashem’s horde had a number of important players subtracted from its lineup via graduation following the 2015 campaign, leaving just a pair of top-six players in the fold in sophomore Henry Su and senior Nick Tveter.
Su was the Astros’ second singles player and a part of the team’s top doubles tandem last spring, and Tveter was the squad’s number six singles competitor.
Behind that battle-tested duo are four other players who have seen varsity action and four newcomers to the varsity fold. And while there’s talent in the Pinkerton mix this year, the on-court varsity experience isn’t quite what Hashem would select, were he to choose a scenario for the 2016 campaign.
“Our key to a successful season is gaining match experience,” said Hashem. “We have some good talent but lack in game experience.”
The squad’s other varsity returnees include seniors Kayke Alves and Ely Campeanu and juniors Tate Pinyochon and Wyatt Hoppa.
The squad’s promising newcomers include sophomores Zach Hudgins and Conor Jowett and freshmen John Marineau and Seb Tonini.
The 2016 Pinkerton crew also has a distinct international flavor, with impressive incoming southpaw Tonini having been born in Italy, veteran Su being a citizen of China, and Alves originally hailing from Brazil.
When asked which teams he expects to be among the toughest in Division I this spring, Hachem pointed to the three-time defending Bedford High Bulldogs, the Derryfield School Cougar contingent from Manchester, the Concord High Crimson Tide side that ended the 2015 Astros’ season, and the Exeter High School Blue Hawks.
The team was scheduled to start the season at Nashua South on Monday, April 4, but that match was cancelled due to snow.
PA sophomore Henry Su should be one of the Astro tennis squad’s top players. Photo by Chris Pantazis
