‘All-in-all good season’ for FHS boys tennis
Farragut High School’s boys tennis team had a solid season, losing only one of 10 District 4-AA matches, finishing 13-3 overall.
According to head coach Gordon Cassity, each member of his 10-team roster played an important role.
“I keep 10 players on the varsity boys team; the bottom two were informed that they may not get in a match,” Cassity said. “But they were able to play several quality matches against several teams.”
In the postseason, the Admirals lost to Bearden 5-4 in a district semifinal Saturday, April 30. The Bullogs then lost to William Blount in the final. Farragut beat BHS in the regular season April 7.
“All in all, we had a good season,” Cassity said. “In the district we lost only to eventual champion William Blount.”
Farragut had some untimely injuries that possibly affected its postseason team chances. Will Patterson was unable to play against Bearden because of a hand injury, and Josh Tesar was limited due to illness.
“We had some key injuries, and I think it cost us at least two wins,” Cassity said.
The Ads’ top doubles team of Benji Cho and Sean Van Tol finished second, sending them on to region play, which started Wednesday, May 11 (after deadline).
Contributions to Farrgut’s 13 team wins came from everyone of the roster. Cho, a junior, played No. 1 singles for Cassity this year. “Benji had a solid season,” Cassity said. “Had a great win against Heritage’s top player.”
Van Tol, at No. 2 singles, had a huge win against CAK, according to Cassity.
Tesar, at No. 4 singles, clinched the victory against Bearden in the regular season with a crucial win in singles.
The No. 6 singles player, sophomore Nick Yan, went undefeated in the district. “He had the ability to just make the other guy hit another ball,” Cassity said.
Tesar teamed with Parker Fitgerald for a big doubles win against Hardin Valley Academy.
Teams play six singles matches and three doubles. The first to five wins. Once a match was in hand (say, having won five of six singles) Cassity often gave lesser players a chance to gain experience.
“When you see you’re gonna win the match, then you put other people in,” Cassity said. “My No. 5 singles might play only half the matches because I’m putting kids in to get ‘em ready for next year.”
