“The strength of the team is each member. The strength of each member is the team,” said Phil Jackson, former American basketball player and coach. Team chemistry is how teams win championships, and for the Morgan boys’ tennis team, it’s the reason they have started their season off so strongly. The boys have begun their season with a record of 2-0-0, with 2 7-0 sweeps against East Hampton and Haddam-Killingworth.
Working together before the season is how they began their team bonding. “During pre-season, we practiced almost every day, and we were working hard,” said freshman Dylan Miller.
The boys’ tennis team is taking this season very seriously. Last year, Haddam-Killingworth won the title of shoreline champs and reached the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class S state tournament. This year, they have set their goals to “win the Shoreline Tournament, so this means we would have to defeat HK to advance through the tournament and eventually win it,” explained sophomore Zhen Wu.
“Our goal since the beginning of the season has been the Shoreline tournament or state tournament. We definitely feel that we have the talent to be able to win,” mentioned junior Nathan Miller.
The tennis team is looking to improve and dominate this year. Pre-season practice is paying off, and it shows after their impeccable performance in their first two matches.
Wu adds his opinion. “Honestly, I don’t even know if we have competition this year. I feel like HK was our competition last year, but now they have lost over half their team, just like most of the other shoreline teams.”
Miller said, “Everybody has played tennis for at least one season in the starting lineup. The majority of people have been playing for a lot longer than that.” Miller also added, “All four of our singles players are used to playing single matches for at least 3 years now.”
The team is filled with skill this year, with many players who have been playing for several years, some playing even before high school. Their experience and chemistry are why their singles and doubles teams have done so well.
“The doubles team has been playing together since our freshman year, and this is their 3rd year playing together,” said Miller.
The doubles teams are senior Andy Alvares and junior Hendrick Bausch at doubles 1, juniors Mekai Howard and Jude Watson at doubles 2, and Wu and sophomore Brayden Winnicki at doubles 3. Winnicki has stepped up in his first year playing tennis to play doubles 3, while Dustin Ly, a sophomore varsity tennis player, has been away in Vietnam.
It has been a bit of a switch-up due to the chemistry Wu and Ly built last season, but Winnicki and Wu have really shown up in the first two matches. However, chemistry and skill aren’t the only key factors for the team’s success.
Coach Christopher Zawadzki believes the strength of the team is the size, “We have 19 kids on tennis, so we have a lot more depth than other schools.”
Zawadski believes that depth, compared to other teams, is also a key factor because when something happens to a player or a player can’t make it, there are many options ready to step up.
While there is still a long season ahead, the boys’ tennis team looks very good this year and is ready to do whatever it takes to bring home the title.
