Hotchkiss wins Founders League Title

Hotchkiss wins Founders League Title

The writeup is from the Hotchkiss Website.

"The boys varsity tennis team concluded their perfect season with a 7-0 sweep of Loomis on May 19.

The win gives the team a 17-0 record on the season and also earned the team its third consecutive Founder’s League title. The Bearcats have also won the New England championship, the KITT tournament, and the SNETL tournament this season.

Wednesday’s sweep included wins at singles by Robert Lightbourn ’10, Matt Shapiro ’10, Charlie Hough ’12, Will Campo ’10, Jeff Kontulis ’10, and Gonzalo Mocorrea ’13. The team also had doubles wins by Lightbourn & Kontulis and Shapiro & Julius Dixon ’12.

The win capped a remarkable season for the team in which the boys on the team won 85 of a possible 91 points in head-to-head play. Only twice during the season was the team pushed to a 4-3 score, a match against Cheshire on April 28 and the New England finals against Deerfield on May 16.

Hotchkiss last finished undefeated in 1999, when David Bolmer was coaching the team. The team was also undefeated in 1995 under current head coach Bill Markey."

Nepsac Tennis Class A Finals

Nepsac Tennis Class A Finals

 Hotchkiss School beat Deerfield Academy 4-3
Hotchkiss won in a battle of two Founders League Teams.

The writeup is taken directly from the Hotchkiss Athletic Website
(http://www.hotchkiss.org/calendars/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=10628&ModuleID=23&StartDate=5/16/2010&TeamID=361)


"Traveling on the second day of the New England Tournament to Loomis Chaffee to play against a very strong Deerfield Academy Team. The team seems ready to do battle. Its a picture perfect day for tennis. Some of the best weather we have had all spring. 

#1 Doubles of Lightbourn and Kontulis lost to Siderides and Wheatley 4-8

#2 Doubles of Hough and Campo defeated Ward and Wieczorec 8-1

#3 Doubles of Shapiro and Dixon lost a heart breaker leading at one point 7-3 allowing the momentum to swing back to their opponents where it stayed losing 9-8. (5-7 tiebreaker)

That got everyone's attention, so bringing the team together and getting them to focus on their singles matches knowing we were behind in the match was critical. I was not sure how they would respond. 

#2 Matthew Shapiro was the first to rebound leveling the match at one apiece with a 6-2 6-4 win over George Wheatley. 

#4 Will Campo would drop his match to Kyle Wieczorec 3-6 2-6 giving the lead back to Deerfield.

#5 Jeffrey Kontulis would be the next to win in a three set match over Robert Long 6-1 4-6 6-3 to even the match and shortly after that...

#6 Gonzalo Mocorrea would give Hotchkiss its first lead with a win over Ilya Kovalenko 7-6 6-0.

#3 Charlie Hough and Alex Ward would grind out three tough sets with Alex getting the better of Charlie in a close third set 6-1 0-6 5-7 leaving it up to the #1's to decide who would be the New England Champions. 

#1 Robert Lightbourn and Andrew Siderides would split sets 6-4 4-6 with Andrew coming back to force a third set. That second set would take its toll on Andrew as Robert would cruise to victory 6-0 in the third. 

I would like to congratulate Jay Morsemen and the Deerfield team on their fine season. I would also like to wish their seniors Andrew, Kyle and Ilya continued success as they head off to college.
We have one more match this season with Loomis Chaffee this Wednesday that will decide Founder League Champions."


Sounds like it was a VERY competitive match which is surprising considering Hotckiss beat Deerfield 7-0 a few weeks ago.  Stay tuned for the Class B Finals Writeup and for new Power Rankings.

For the full Class A Draw and Results check out http://preptennis.org/netc10.htm.

Check out the Nepsac Class B Finals Writeup.

NEPSAC Class A Tennis Tournament Breakdown

NEPSAC Class A Tennis Tournament Breakdown

Click here to see the NEPSAC Class B Tournament Breakdown.

Check out the Nepsac Draws at http://www.preptennis.org/netc10.htm

Before I get started I wanted to point out that I went 8 for 8 predicting the Class A field, too bad I wasn't as successful with Class B.  The number next to each team is its Class A Rank (in my opinion).

First Round Matchups
TOP HALF
(1st Seed, 1) Hotchkiss School vs. (5) Phillips Academy
Phillips should be no match for this Hotchkiss team.  Hotchkiss beat Deerfield 7-0, Deerfield beat Phillips 5-2, enough said.  Hotchkiss rolls to an easy 4-0 victory.

(2) Milton Academy vs. (6) Taft School
I thought that Milton would pick up the second seed and they kind of got screwed over because they got placed on the same side of the draw as Hotchkiss.  I'm not sure whether the unseeded teams are placed randomly or manually but either way Milton has a right to be upset.  I should've gotten a vote on the committee.  Anyway, Milton should edge out Taft in this match but it could be close.  Prediction: Milton 5, Taft 2.

BOTTOM HALF
(4) Loomis Chaffee School vs. (8) Cheshire Academy
Loomis beat Choate 5-2, Choate beat Cheshire 5-2, Loomis will beat Cheshire 5-2.  Cheshire has a very strong 1, 2 punch in Beck Bond '11 and Michael Rosengren '11 but Loomis has too much depth for this squad. Loomis 5, Cheshire 2.

(2nd Seed, 3) Deerfield Academy vs. (7) Choate Rosemary Hall
Deerfield beat Choate 5-2 two weeks ago; they do it again on Saturday.  Prediction: Deerfield 5, Choate 2.

Semi-Finals
(1st Seed) Hotchkiss School vs. (2) Milton Academy
These are the two best Class A teams and it will probably be a battle.  I think that Milton will be able to take the doubles point but I'm not sure that they can pull out 3 singles matches.  The depth of Hotchkiss will probably overwhelm the Stags on Saturday.  Sorry Milton, I like Hotchkiss to win it 4-2 (one match unfinished)

(2nd Seed) Deerfield Academy vs. (4) Loomis Chaffee School
Last time these "two bitter rivals" played Deerfield eked out a 4-3 victory but it was very tight.  Deerfield took the doubles point when third doubles won 9-7 and they got two singles points in third-setters (one in a tiebreaker).  I like Loomis to upset Deerfield 4-3 although it could really go either way.

Finals
(1st Seed) Hotchkiss School vs. (4) Loomis Chaffee School
It's no secret that Hotchkiss beat Deerfield 7-0 and Loomis lost to Deerfield 4-3.  Hotchkiss cruises in this final to a 4-0 victory, preventing Loomis from repeating.

Check back on Saturday and Sunday for Live Coverage and Match Write ups.

Go Celtics! 

NEPSAC Class A Prep Tennis Rankings

NEPSAC Class A Prep Tennis Rankings

UPDATED NEPSAC Class A Prep Tennis Rankings

I didn't realize until just now that Cheshire Academy is a Class A team so I just added them in as the number 8 team into the tournament.

Click here for the previous NEPSAC Class A Tennis Rankings.

1. Hotchkiss School Tennis (previously: 1)

Hotchkiss remains atop my Class A rankings and will likely be the number 1 seed in the NEPSAC Tournament. They've pretty much cleaned up except for a 7-0 (scrimmage) loss to Brunswick and a tight 4-3 win against Class B opponent Cheshire Academy.  Hotchkiss is the cream of the crop from the Founders League.  Hotchkiss is by far the best Class A team.

2. Milton Academy Tennis (3)

Milton won a very close match against Phillips Academy- Andover this past week and is likely to get the 2nd seed in the NEPSAC Tournament.  Milton will have its hands full if it plays Hotchkiss but it could potentially pull an upset off.

3. Deerfield Academy Tennis (2)

Deerfield had a slightly more convincing win (than Milton) over Phillips Academy (5-2 instead of 4-2) but it's unlikely that the committee gives both seeds to Founders teams in my opinion.

4. Loomis Chaffee School Tennis (4)

Loomis sits comfortably at the fourth position. They've beaten everyone except Deerfield and it was only a 4-3 loss.  They don't play Hotchkiss until after NEPSACs.

5. Phillips Academy- Andover Tennis (5)

Phillips has close losses to Milton, Deerfield and (Class B) Roxbury Latin.  This squad beat Taft 4-3 at the beginning of the season.

6. Taft School Tennis (6)

Taft has close losses to Hotchkiss (5-2), Phillips (4-3), and Loomis (4-3).

7. Choate Rosemary Hall Tennis (7)

Choate has pulled out a lot of close matches this year but they are likely to get crushed by any team they face first round.

8. Cheshire Academy Tennis (Unranked)

I messed up, I thought that Cheshire was Class B.  Although they are ranked 8th I think that this is the only team that could possibly beat Hotchkiss in the Class A Tournament.  The only reason this team isn't ranked higher is that it lost to Choate 5-2.

As you can tell not much has changed since the last time I did the rankings. Stay tuned because I'll do a full breakdown of the bracket when it comes out.

Did I leave anyone out? Comment below.

Is the ISL or Founders League Better at Tennis?

Is the ISL or Founders League Better at Tennis?

Basically I've been having a facebook argument with the number one from Hotchkiss about whether the ISL or Founders League is better at tennis.  I really need my fans to comment on this one or join in on the facebook argument. Check it out. I edited the posts a bit for content.

ISL is a joke, founder's teams have won new englands past 2 years. get past weak andover then come over here to western New england to take on the real men

Yesterday at 11:10pm

Cam Woodsum

wow you're really saying that after the ISL has won 7 of the past 9 Class A championships and 6 of the past 11 Class B Championships. Maybe you've won a few in the past few years but we've been dominating you for the past decade
isltennis.com

Yesterday at 11:29pm ·

2008 champs- Hotchkiss
2009 champs- Loomis (whose 1 loss of the season was Hotchkiss)

new englands last year- hotchkiss deerfield loomis choate taft andover groton milton ( 4 founders teams, 2 ISL) 

18 hours ago

Cam Woodsum

bro we only have 2 class a teams and they were both in it! Plus although the schools in Class B are smaller it is a significantly more competitive tournament with teams that are almost always stronger than the Class A champ with the exception of the Milton dynasty because they would've beaten anyone.

Matt let me add also:
2007 champs- milton
2006- milton... See More
2005 milton
2004 milton
2003 milton
2002 groton
2001 milton

Keep it Real.

16 hours ago ·

Did I win the argument? You tell me in the comments section below. Here's the full argument.