Boys Tennis: St. Mary’s hopes experience pays huge dividends

St. Mary?s coach Brian Carlson knew coming into this season his team was in prime position for a good season. Little did he know how good the Spartans would turn out to be.
St. Mary?s ripped through the regular season, finishing with a 15-3 record and winning a share of the first Catholic Central League title in program history and the No. 3 seed in the Division 3 North tournament that begins on Thursday.
St. Mary?s earned a bye into the quarterfinals where it will host either No. 6 Pentucket (10-4) or No. 11 Swampscott (9-8) on Friday afternoon.
?We had a lot of great accomplishments this season,” Carlson said. “We knew that we would be seeded pretty high with our record and we?re looking forward to getting going.”
It has been a team effort in every sense for St. Mary?s this season as consistency in the singles? positions by Brady Ryan, Matt McManus and Patrick Morin-Plante was supported by the talented first doubles? team of Noah Camelo and Conor Foley.
?The experience that our top guys have is huge,” Carlson said. “They all know each other and how they play. That led to us being comfortable and playing good tennis.”
The Spartans could potentially face Swampscott for a third time this season, having taken a pair of 3-2 matches earlier. The Big Blue needed a win in their regular-season finale against Winthrop to make the playoffs but could be a tough, led by North singles? champion Matt Jacobs.
?Both of the teams that we could go against are going to be good,” Carlson said.
In Division 2 North, Northeastern Conference/North champion Marblehead earned the No. 6 seed and a home match against No. 11 Arlington (13-7) on Thursday. The Magicians (16-5) are led by a trio of senior captains – Griffin Butterfield, Michael Forte and Dimitry Vlassov ? in the singles? positions.
Despite having an 8-9 overall record, Lynn Classical is in the tournament by virtue of its second-place finish behind Beverly in the NEC/North standings. Classical?s young but talented squad is the No. 14 seed and will hit the road on Thursday to face No. 3 Masconomet.
The Chieftains were runaway winners in the Cape Ann League?s Kinney division this season.
Beverly (10-5) is the No. 10 seed and like their counterparts on the girls? side will have a match at No. 7 Burlington on Thursday as part of a doubleheader.
Gloucester is the No. 4 seed at 11-3 and will play host to No. 13 Wilmington (9-9) on Thursday. The final NEC team in the sectional is No. 9 Danvers (12-6) which visits No. 8 Reading in the opening round.In Division 1, St. John?s Prep garnered the No. 7 seed after a 12-6 regular season. The Eagles host No. 10 Latin Academy (9-8) on Thursday.