The boys tennis team finished counties Monday coming in third place overall (17 points) behind Churchill (23 points—1st place) and Wootton (20 points—2nd place). Third singles player Andrew Leung was the only player to walk away with gold.

First singles player Evin McDonald, second singles player Jack Welch and third doubles team Jamie Miura and Peter Hoogstraten advanced to semifinals of their brackets.

With an undefeated season under their belts, the Vikings entered counties with high expectations but fell short in highly contested matches against stout competitors.

“Counties was a lot more pressure than regular season games, as you were by yourself in each tournament, and if you did bad, you would ruin the team’s chances,” Leung said. “The season was a lot less pressure considering we played as a team, and if you lost, you wouldn’t have that much of an effect on the team’s results.”

The additional pressure combined with spring sicknesses proved to be detrimental for the doubles team of Hoogstraten and Miura, who lost 6–4, 6–2 in semi finals.

“Wootton definitely improved from when we played them in the regular season. We also didn’t play well and I played while I was sick,” Miura said.

Undefeated and nationally ranked first singles player Evin McDonald also suffered a disappointing loss 6–3, 4–6, 6–2, to Wootton’s Joseph Brakovsky.

“Our main goal was to come in first, but unfortunately [our] team did not play their best tennis throughout the week,” McDonald said. “We might have been a little overconfident and we most likely took some matches a little too easy.”

Next, the boys enter regionals Wednesday, May 18.