After a few seasons in which the Boys Tennis Team finished under .500, the Hawks turned it around this season to wind up finishing 7-5, finishing third in the A1 Division. In the playoffs, the Hawks had a first round bye and in the second round they would play High School of American Studies at Lehman College where they would lose 3-2.
Some key wins of this season occurred against Bayside High School and Forest Hills High School, schools the Hawks had lost to in the past. This season was a huge step-up from the past few seasons for the Hawks as they won the most amount of games they have in the past two seasons combined. This is a great sign of improvement for the team, one that may propel the Hawks to beating their toughest division rival, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. Who went 12-0 in the regular season.
Going into the playoffs, the Hawks received the ninth seed in the “A” Division, and even with a disappointing loss, the Hawks still had their best season yet. Harris had several key members who contributed to the team’s success, one of the these players is Freshman Stephen Mai who was on 2nd Doubles, finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record and also getting one win in the playoffs. Stephen said “My rookie season went well,” and as for the future of this team Stephen feels that the team “will continue to improve [their] record.”
Unfortunately the Hawks will be losing senior Patrick Aguda, who was a key figure in 2nd Singles and captain Andrew Eichenholz. Aguda finishing his season 5-5, while going 1-0 in the playoffs and Eichenholz, the team’s leader and role model.
Junior Christopher Hu who took over the position of 1st Singles said “The future looks bright as our players have much time to further develop and grow as a team.”
Coach Mark Ifill was a big part of this turnaround season. In every sport, when a good team exists, an even better coach is there leading the way. Coach Ifill took over the reigns as the Boys Varsity Tennis team Coach in the 2011-2012 season to try and make the Hawks a team that could compete and win. Coach Ifill took over a team that had finished 0-12 in 2010-2011, and led the Hawks all the way to a 7-5 record this season.
The Boys Tennis Team’s season gave the Hawks a feeling of what it is like to win and be a competitive team, and as Christopher Hu said on next year’s team, “Together it is very possible for us to be one of the top teams in the borough.”
