The young but improving Revere High boys tennis team continues to make positive strides, even though those improvements are not necessarily showing up in the win column.
“We’re playing better every week,†said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “They’re a great group of kids who are working hard to get better, and they are.â€
The Patriots played three of the top teams in the Northeastern Conference this past week, perennial NEC powerhouses Marblehead and Swampscott and Salem, which has been having a good year.
Although unbeaten Marblehead defeated Revere with a shutout, the Pats managed to win 12 games in the match, which is more than they accomplished last season against the Magicians when Revere qualified for the state tourney. The first doubles tandem of freshman Nick Mucci and Mladen Pepic enjoyed a 4-3 lead in the first set, before falling by an eventual score of 4-6, 0-6. The second doubles duo of Pariwat Chuiwong and Tim Mellen also played well in their first set before falling by a final score of 3-6, 1-6.
In the match with Salem, junior Malak Mossadek posted a win at third singles, 6-0, 6-2 and Richie Bonilla extended his opponent at second singles to three sets before succumbing by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 4-6.
“I was very proud of the way that both Malak and Richie played,â€said Flynn. “Richie’s match was the match of the day and it could have gone either way in that final set.†The coach also had praise for his first singles player, Francesco Tartaglia, who also played a “great match,†in Flynn’s words, despite a losing effort.
The netmen were set to face Lynn Classical this past Monday and play Beverly today (Wednesday). They will take on Lynn English and Peabody next week.