After LM boys’ tennis won districts for the second time in a row last year, there were high hopes for yet another boys’ tennis PIAA 3A state championship win. The team’s loss came down to the wire, all riding on one tiebreaker, but unfortunately the Aces couldn’t pull through against Conestoga. LM’s defeat was heartbreaking, especially after they beat Conestoga for the district title earlier that season.
Since last season, the team lost their best player, Brian Yi ’24, who was an automatic win against almost any player in the state. There was only one incoming freshman, Jackson Hicke ’28, to make varsity this year. One may view the recent trends–a loss of talent and lack of replacements–within boys’ tennis and assume that their historic run for the past
decade is over. Despite these challenges, the Aces are preparing to make one last stand against Conestoga’s recent reign over the state title. Conestoga has won the past two state championships, both against LM in the finals, and the Aces won’t let it happen again.
There have been massive changes in the team’s culture, with coach Harris Mailman picking the captains mainly based on how well they unite both the varsity and junior varsity teams. This year’s captains, Devon Christini ’25, Aarav Gupta ’25, and Luke Reynolds ’25 have prioritized kinship within the team, strengthening the culture and the spirit within boys’ tennis. Furthermore, Gupta adds, “we have put in a lot of effort to unite the team, with [coach] Harris prioritizing the relationship between varsity and JV, we have made a lot of progress changing the culture for the better. We have to also acknowledge the amount of work everybody put in during the offseason, everybody has shown improvement since last season.” The team worked hard over the offseason, using their losses in the past two seasons to fuel their improvement, so with a new culture and newfound skill, the Aces are geared towards beating out their competitors.
The season began on March 13, with a dominating win against Marple Newtown. The team then continued to beat Council Rock South, Harriton, and Garnet Valley. Hopefully this strong start to the season will set the precedent for districts and states, with Christini pointing out “Conestoga’s team is incredible, but we still have a small chance of winning. There is no room for error in doubles or singles, we actually can’t lose any doubles matches if we want to beat them.”
In the PIAA state championship, there are five courts the team plays on: the top three players play singles, and the next four play doubles. This means that only seven players play, the best players LM boys’ tennis has to offer. This season there are four seniors, Hayden Masotti ’25, Christini, Charlie Bittinger ’25, and Noah Sicouri ’25 in the top seven, leaving large shoes to fill for next season. There have been mixed practices with next year’s freshman class in hopes to get a head start in training the next generation of LM boys’ tennis, and to have a more experienced and connected team next year. Only time will tell if the seniors’ shoes can be filled, but for now, it’s looking like this season is the last chance LM boy’s tennis has against shutting out Conestoga from what could be their third states win in a row.
