LYNNFIELD — The boys tennis Division 4 second-seed Lynnfield High fought for their 5-0 win against Cohasset High, sending them back to the finals for a second year in a row.
“I’m very excited. Any time you have a team that could play the way they did to get to this point, 19 and 1, their only loss to a Division 1 School, is great,” said Lynnfield High School Coach Joseph Dunn.
David Kasdon-Rafik Khodr, at first doubles, took their first set 6-2. “The first set we just played really well and inconsistent tennis,” said Kasdon. “We were getting to the net more than the start of the second set and we weren’t missing shots really.”
The senior-junior team came back and tied their second set at 6-6. Sending them into a best of 10 tie-breaker. After an uphill battle, the pair came away with a 7-4 win. “They started taking charge more, like something changed when they talked to their coach there at the second set,” said Kasdon. “We had to bring it in a little more and then play a little more aggressively. We just played our best and ended up winning it.”
“They definitely felt more comfortable. They got a bunch of games off us. With the tie-breaker we just hit the shots that we needed to in order to win the big points and we always came through,” said Khodr.
Russel Kasdon-Jason Yang, at second doubles, also had a hard match up. As they too were sent into a tie-breaker. All eyes were on the pair as they came out victorious over their Cohasset opponents and rounded out the final score of 5-0.
The Pioneers are now onto the championship game without taking a loss this tournament. The final game will be a rematch from last year’s tournament with Weston High. “We’re excited, last year against Weston they definitely outplayed us a lot, But I’m hoping to do better this time,” said Kasdon. “We’ll do our best to win obviously, but we just want to have a good time and we’re happy to be in the finals.”
“Definitely happy to make it this far especially with the new bracket. We are able to go all the way to the state final rather than just the north section final. But, just mostly happy that we’re here,” said Khodr.
“It’s always fun to be in the finals. They’re just a strong team, they want to win, and they want to have fun,” said Dunn. “If Weston’s tougher then we are, so be it. Congratulations, but we’re going to give our best.”
Other Lynnfield winners were Harrison Luba at first singles, Dan Liven at second singles, and Shea McCarthy at third singles. David Kasdon-Rafik Khodr at first doubles and Russel Kasdon-Jason Yang at second doubles.
