The Hand boys’ tennis team brought an unblemished record into its SCC Tournament championship match against Fairfied Prep after going 17-0 for the regular season and winning its first two contests in the conference draw. Unfortunately for the top-seeded Tigers, they took their first lost of the season by dropping a 5-2 decision to the 2nd-seeded Jesuits in a contest that featured five three-set matches at Yale University on May 25. Hand posted an overall record of 19-1 for the season and then finished in second place at the Class L State Championship.

“We had a perfect season going in at 19-0, and we were thinking we had a lot to lose. We were up in all of our matches and were playing great,” said Head Coach Dawn Fagerquist following the SCC final. “All of our doubles teams lost in three sets, so those matches could’ve went either way. We couldn’t close out those big points, but this loss was good for us going into states.”

Winning matches on the day for the Tigers were junior Justin Pace, who prevailed 6-1, 6-1 over Nash Lovallo at No. 2 singles; and sophomore Noah Gulla, who won a 6-0, 6-2 decision against Sean Lynch at No. 3. Pace also garnered All-SCC Team recognition for his performance this season. Although her team was unable to defend its SCC title, Coach Fagerquist said the Tigers still have plenty to feel proud about considering how much they accomplished to get back to the final.

“Going 19-0 is huge. Beating Amity twice this year is a big accomplishment. When you keep winning matches like that, some confidence...can get in the way, and I thought we had this match against Prep,” said Fagerquist. “But they came ready to play. They had their eye on the prize and we just couldn’t close it out. Prep came in with more than we expected and maybe wanting it a little bit more.”

Hand senior Kyle Fay, who also made the All-SCC Team, took on Chris Hilton in the No. 1 singles match. Fay grabbed an early advantage with a 6-4 win in the first set, but Hilton rallied for 6-2 and 7-5 victories in the subsequent sets to win the match. In the No. 4 contest, Tigers’ sophomore Max Thompson went up against Nick Allen, who won the opening set 6-3 before Thompson evened the score after a 6-2 win. Allen took the third set 6-1 to get the win for Fairfield Prep.

On the doubles’ side, the Tigers’ No. 1 tandem of juniors Rob Israel (an All-SCC selection) and Alex Bueno battled Brian Donahue and senior Steven Westfahl for another a three-set matchup. Israel and Bueno won the opener, 6-3, before Prep’s duo countered with 6-4, 6-0 victories. In the No. 2 match, seniors Gianni LoMonaco and Sam Thorpe had quite a battle against Frank Fortunati and Will Stanco, who won by the score of 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. For No. 3 doubles, freshmen Darby Rogers and James Watkins took a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 defeat against Julian Richtarich and junior Pierce Barry.

Following the SCC Tournament, Hand competed at the Class L State Championship and scored 22 points to place second behind New Canaan with 32. In the singles tournament, No. 8 seed Pace made All-State as he won his first four matches, including a 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 victory against top-seeded Bobby Neuner of Darien in the quarterfinals, before taking a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 loss against 4th-ranked Alex Merjian of New Canaan in the semis. Fay, the No. 7 seed, also made All-State by winning four matches to reach the semifinals, with each victory coming in straight sets. Also in singles, Thompson won his first round match before losing in the second round, while Gulla won two matches to reach the third round, where he took a defeat.

For the doubles bracket, Rogers and Watkins won their first two matches, including a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) win in the second round, before taking a third round loss. The 5th-seeded team of Bueno and Israel received a first round bye and then won their next two matches in straight sets, including a third round victory over the 11th-seeded team from Darien. After that, they dropped a 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-5 decision in the quarterfinals against the 4th-seeded team from Wilton. Hand’s 8th-seeded team of LoMonaco and Thorpe had a first round bye and then won by a 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 10-6 score in the second round. In the third round, they lost by a 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 final against the 9th-seeded team from New Canaan.