The 2023 tennis season has been eventful. From wins to losses and amazing plays, the student athletes have worked their hardest to have the best season. The tennis team went 12-3 on the year, and they were undefeated in the Northeast 8 Conference with a record of 8-0 and were NE8 champs. 

One of the best conference records that the team has had in a while, and their three losses were all 3-2, 2 to Boardman and one to Canfield. All close matches and the team was really good, and the future looks good for the tennis team as their top 3 singles and 1st doubles team will all be returning next year. 

On Wednesday, the team had sectional playoffs, the single players were at Boardman High School, and the doubles players were at Poland Seminary High School. They all fought hard and had a  respectable showing in the playoffs. 

One of the 7 players is advancing to regionals next week. Superstar Freshman Andrew Aey advanced to the final 4 in sectionals, and he will face the number 3 seed Christian Chappell from Salem. If he wins, he will face the winner of Brady Frank from Ursuline and the #1 Seed of the whole tournament Christopher Simon of Ursuline. This will be a heavily anticipated matchup and is really important for seeding for regionals next week. 

Andrew will play at Canton next week after he figures out his seeding on Saturday. 

We also interviewed some players from this season and asked them what they thought of this season. 

We asked Senior James Clutter how his first year of tennis went.

Clutter said, “It was a really fun experience for me. We needed some more players because they did not have enough to compete, so some first year players like Daniel Pike and I played and were really good and competitive.” 

Clutter also said his favorite part of the season was when the team won the NE8 at Jefferson, his performance at sectionals, and the final 2 home matches against Struthers. 

We also interviewed Senior Carson Maurer. He was asked what his favorite part of the season was. Maurer joined the team as a late addition because the team was shorthanded all year and needed some extra players. Maurer is the ultimate teammate. 

Maurer stated, “My favorite moments were showing up to the fitch match at Fitch after having no tennis experience and no practice and then me and my doubles partner (James Clutter), we proceeded to demolish Fitch by a score of 6-0 6-0.

Finally, Freshman Andrew Aey was asked how his first season of high school tennis went. 

He stated, “This season was an amazing experience for me. I really learned a lot through it, and it will help me for my future career in tennis in Poland. I am looking forward to the final 4 in sectionals because I will most likely be playing #1 seed Chris Simon in the final of sectionals. I am looking forward to the next round and am ready for my next few years of tennis in Poland.”

Overall, Andrew Aey is a generational superstar talent for his age and destroys all of his competition going 18-0 so far throughout the season. He will be a great player for the next 4 years of his career and Poland’s teams will be very grateful for him. 

The team had a good year and there will be many more in the future and they look to defend the NE8 title next season.