The boys’ tennis team won their first three scrimmages against Bullis, Landon and The Potomac School and won their first two regular season matches against Clarksburg and Northwest.

This season, the team added three talented freshmen, two of whom are starters. The starting lineup begins with freshman Jakob Esterowitz at singles 1, senior Nick Huynh playing singles 2, junior Alex Yeh at singles 3, and junior Simon Huynh starting at singles 4. The starters for doubles are junior Daniel Zhang and sophomore Owen Matus in the first doubles position, sophomores Ryan Meyer and Mikey Fellman at doubles 2, and sophomore Alec Jung and freshman Jason Wang playing doubles 3.

The season started off on a hot streak with the team winning all of their preseason scrimmages, beating The Potomac School 7-4, followed by a close 4-3 victory over Landon, and an 8-0 shutout against Bullis.

The beginning of the regular season wasn’t much different. The Patriots shut out Clarksburg and Northwest with scores of 7-0 each. Having only one senior starter on the team leaves a lot of pressure on some of the new, less experienced players. “The team this year is very deep and young. I would go as far to say that the depth that this team has this year surpasses last year’s,” senior captain Nick Huynh said.

An away match against the Northwest Jaguars on Mar. 27 was the Patriots’ second match of the season and shows what this young team is capable of. The Patriots swept through the Jaguars, winning every match with ease. The Patriots only lost six total games throughout the whole match. “We have been one of the best teams in the state for a very long time. Our success isn’t surprising. We all work very hard and it’s what we expect out of ourselves and our teammates,” Zhang said.

Most of the season still awaits the Patriots as it will last well into May. With a young and inexperienced lineup, the Patriots could face potential difficulty going up against some of the other top schools in the county like Churchill and Whitman. “I try not to have any expectations for the team until we face off against one of the really tough schools. Once we have some tough victories under our belt, then I would say that our chances of winning counties and beyond are pretty high,” Huynh said.

The tennis team faces off at home against the Blair Blazers on Apr. 9, and have another match away against the Whitman Vikings on Apr. 11.