by Blake Krantz
Boys’ tennis, 8-8, lost 5-0 to Barnstable Thursday in the first round of the State Tournament against Barnstable.
According to coach Phil Goldberg, Barnstable may be  “the best team in the South and maybe the state.”
Senior Cameron Schoettle, a captain with seniors Owen Grafe and Jonny Levenfeld, added that the matchup with such a good team allowed the Tigers to push themselves “without the stress of winning or losing.”
As Grafe put it, the team was able to “play without consequences” against Barnstable.
“We played well and I think we played with a good attitude, we knew that the chances of victory were low,” Grafe said, of the tournament loss.
In hindsight, Schoettle explained that the first round “could have been better” for the team, but the focus is not really “on how the season ends, it is more about how we adapted as a team.”
The Tigers were able to take the second doubles match to three sets, and Goldberg cited Grafe, sophomore Ruben Trauba, and freshman Jack Vasu as Tigers who competed particularly well.
With six seniors on the team this year, Goldberg pictures a “rebuilding situation” next season, after a year in which “everyone got better throughout the season.”