Taunton win highlights busy week for CHS tennis teams

By Jay Turner

For the second week in a row, the Canton High boys and girls tennis teams produced nearly identical results, going 1-2 with a big win over Taunton sandwiched between losses to Mansfield and Foxboro.

Junior doubles player Tiffany Ha won 2 matches last week. (Mike Barucci photo)

On the girls’ side, there were plenty of encouraging signs as the lady Bulldogs easily defeated Taunton 4-1 and then took both doubles matches in Friday’s away match against first-place Foxboro.

“We played poorly in the beginning of the year (0-3), but I see the team greatly improving,” said head coach Bill Kates. “I’ve been really focusing on improving our weaknesses and I’ve been stressing strategy, and they’re playing much, much better.”

Leading the way for Canton last week were doubles partners Tiffany Ha and Sarah MacQuarrie, who earned a pair of straight-set victories, including a 6-2, 6-2 win against the Warriors’ first doubles team. The win was MacQuarrie’s fourth of the season and her first at the top doubles spot.

Also earning a win against Foxboro were the second doubles duo of seniors Cristina Guccione and Asia Smith, who split the first two sets before prevailing in a tiebreaker 7-6 in set three.

Friday’s contest ultimately came down to singles play, where Foxboro is particularly strong; however, in the Taunton match, it was the Bulldogs who had the upper hand, sweeping the singles matches behind No. 1 Emma Sokolovsky (7-5, 6-2), No. 2 Carly Scanlon (0-6, 6-4, 6-2), and No. 3 Skylar Jabbour (7-6, 6-0).

Meanwhile, a similar story unfolded on the boys’ side last week as the Bulldogs prevailed 4-1 in Wednesday’s road tilt with Taunton.

“We added another win under our belts,” said head coach Leo Nelson. “On this day we played with the confidence and fundamentals you need to have to win at this level of tennis.”

Co-captains Nathan Maltz and Dan Biggers both had convincing wins at second and third singles, with Maltz winning 6-2, 6-0 and Biggers winning 6-1, 6-4.

The Bulldogs also swept the doubles matches as Max Platt and Cooper Huber eked out a three-set win while the freshmen duo of Jake Wolicki and Justin Diep breezed past their competition 6-1, 6-0.

It was the second straight win for Wolicki and Diep, who also won in straight sets against their Mansfield opponent on Monday (6-2, 6-4).

Nelson said the duo have developed a great chemistry and played with confidence in both wins last week. “They stuck to their team strategy of being aggressive, talking between points to pick apart their opponent, and then taking the net at every opportunity they could get,” he said.

Now 2-8 overall, the boys were due to play three road matches this week against Oliver Ames, Milford and Stoughton, while the girls (3-7) were scheduled to see the same three opponents at home. Both squads will also face a formidable Sharon team on Monday, May 18, and the boys will host nonleague Quincy on Wednesday, May 20.

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