Girls tennis off to strong start, boys earn first W

By Jay Turner

The spring season is now in full swing for both CHS tennis teams, and experience level has been the primary differentiator with the veteran girls squad racing to a 3-1 start while the new-look boys team continues to make strides with a fresh lineup under new head coach Bill Donovan.

For the girls team, Joel Chamberlain returns as coach and the lineup has consistency at the top with returning singles players Rachel Kupferman, Natalie Keppler and Sarah Hernandez. Doubles mainstay Stelina Michaelidis is also back this season and has teamed with fellow veteran Jamie Cree. The second doubles position has been the lone wild card with several different players getting a chance at that spot, including Rose Hazam, Simela Donovan, Kiara Cerruti and Alexis Newton.

Through the first four matches, the lady Bulldogs notched wins over Attleboro, Stoughton and Franklin—all by a 5-0 final score. Kupferman has been especially dominant, having won all 36 sets she’s played in, while Keppler has won 33 of 36. Hernandez has yet to go to a third set herself, and Michaelidis and Cree are undefeated in three matches together at first doubles.

In the one match that the girls lost — 5-0 to Foxboro — none of the top starters were in attendance due to school trips and college visits. But they were right back to their winning ways in their subsequent two matches with the Bulldogs getting a “great showing from all players up and down the rotation,” according to Chamberlain.

On the boys’ side, Canton boasts a brand-new starting lineup headed by talented freshman Suraj Ramanathan, who reeled off three individual wins at first singles to open the season. Sophomores Minh Duong and Ethan Nguyen also have a win apiece in the second and third singles positions, while seniors Tyler Duffy and Justin Luk recently earned their first doubles win—6-1, 6-4 in a home match versus Stoughton. Ramanathan and Duong also had wins as Canton defeated the Knights 3-2 at home.

The Bulldogs could not keep the momentum going the following day versus Franklin, but Nguyen was able to prevail in a long battle at third singles, winning the final set in a tiebreaker (2-6, 6-4, 7-5).

Also seeing action at doubles thus far has been senior Vincent Vinh and Jalen Townsend, two players with hard serves who have made notable strides throughout the early part of the season.

Donovan, who previously coached at Cardinal Spellman and is a longtime USTA member, is thrilled to be coaching in Canton. And while he is not expecting instant results on the court with a young corps, he is excited about the team’s potential as well as their commitment to the sport. A student of the game himself, Donovan said he came into the job with three main priorities: to ensure the players have a good experience, to teach them tennis, and to win matches — in that order.

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