Monomoy Boys Tennis Makes Tournament Run

HARWICH – Ethan Seufert and Tom Hereford, the second doubles pair for the Monomoy boys tennis team, trailed midway through the first set of their round of 16 match against Bourne last Tuesday. 

The junior-sophomore duo then won the next nine of 10 games to not only recover the set but entirely secure the match 6-4, 6-1, one of No. 3 seed Monomoy’s five wins in the sweep against No. 14 seed Bourne as they continued on in the Division 4 state tournament.

“It’s really hard to battle back like that, but I’m really happy about it,” Seufert said.

That comeback in second doubles, according to head coach Reuben Bowman, demonstrated the “mentality” possessed by the team, which went 15-3 in the regular season and won two tournament matches before falling to No. 6 seed Sturgis West 3-2 in the quarterfinals last Thursday.

“This year, they want it,” Bowman said. “They put in the work over the winter. The skills are there, and now their mentality is there, and they believe. They’re excited, and they want to be here.”

In a similar vein, Hereford said comebacks like his and Seufert’s against Bourne’s Doug Lunedi and James Kirby take “mental physique.”

“It’s a numbers game where you kind of think of what you have to do to win and get there, and when you start getting behind, you realize, ‘I have to win this game. I have to win this point,’” Hereford said. “It starts to build, and it gets really hard to play.”

In Monomoy’s win to advance to the quarterfinals, freshman Roman Pavluchenko beat Joziah DeSouza 6-1, 6-1 in first singles, and in second singles, senior Ryan Casey beat Jonathan Santucci 6-0, 6-0 — “double bagels,” as Casey called it.

“That’s fun to do, definitely,” he said.

In third singles, sophomore Zach Shields defeated Jake Roux 6-1, 7-6 (8-6), and in first doubles, senior Blake Noonan and eighth grader Nick Hadden beat Nate Reynolds and Landon Hope 6-2, 6-2.

Shields’ match against Roux, with the second set tiebreaker, closed out the competition.

“He is our marathon man this year,” Bowman said. “He is going long matches, three sets. He’s just playing his heart out, and he’s giving it his all. It’s great to see from him. It’s great to see from the team.”

The Sharks then lost to No. 6 seed Sturgis West 3-2 in the quarterfinals Thursday. Right after winning Tuesday, though, Shields said that in tennis, one keeps playing and doesn't quit after losing. 

“You play better people, and you get better from it,” he said following the match against Bourne. “It’s really about who wants to put in the most work and who doesn’t give up. Like you’re not going to win a lot of matches, honestly. Every single tennis player has a lot of losing streaks.”

The team graduates captains Casey and Noonan. Pavluchenko, who went 15-2 this year, and Casey were named all-stars, according to Bowman. 

Hadden said it had “been great” playing with Noonan, his first doubles partner — an eighth grader-senior pair.

“Even though he’s a senior, we’ve bonded really well and played great together,” Hadden said.

The team is set up “for greatness next year,” he said.