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Juniors Owen Rigney, left, and Tyler Chamberlain will serve as captains for the Woodstock boys’ tennis team this season. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
Boys’ Tennis Preview
A full team for the Centaurs
Happiness is 10 players. The Woodstock boys’ tennis team has reached nirvana this season.
The Centaurs can field a full squad.
“It’s much different, because we do have enough players this time,” junior co-captain Tyler Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain will be the No. 2 singles player with fellow junior and co-captain, Owen Rigney, in the top spot.
“I’m very much looking forward to this last year,” Rigney said. “We have enough players to field a team with alternates.”
Even though he has another year of school to complete, this will be Rigney’s last at Woodstock he will complete high school abroad in Switzerland.
Despite the fact that the Centaurs often could not field a full squad, they still made States with a 7-7 record and were 4-2 in Div. II of the ECC last season.
Still, it was difficult.
“It was a trying year not having the full team, it really dampened everyone’s spirits, mine included. This year, everything is just feeling positive. The relationships between those on the team are great, everybody is enjoying each other’s company and it doesn’t feel cliquey,” coach Siana Green said.
The Centaurs did lose Cormac Nielsen, James Le and Diego Rodriguez but there is additional experience behind Rigney and Chamberlain.
Senior Eli Staples will play third singles and fellow senior Cang Nguyen will be No. 4.
Ryan Chabot and Steve Shen, both sophomores, will be the first doubles team.
“While Steven has not been on the team, he has played tennis for the last two years and played in Germany for multiple years before that,” Green said.
Freshmen Heath White and Ben Sperger are also avid tennis players.
The only duo that will have to build experience as they go is the third doubles pairing of junior Max Lim and freshmen Cayden Worth.
One thing the Centaurs do have to continue to deal with is the fact that there are no courts at Woodstock.
The boys’ and girls’ tennis teams have to share facilities with Pomfret School on the Griffins courts.
As the weather improves, and the outdoor courts at Pomfret may be utilized, that may not be as big a deal but for now, practices and matches can be at odd times.
“It’s definitely different and if we have a practice right after school, sometimes, we’re a little late as everyone has to get on a shuttle or get a ride from someone. It’s also nice to be able to come into the indoor courts where games are not canceled or rescheduled. So, it’s a big help but also a minor inconvenience at times,” Chamberlain said.
The Centaurs had one of those odd times to get started as they hosted NFA in their season opener on Monday night at Pomfret School. They also played at Killingly on Tuesday and are now off for almost two weeks as their next match is on April 15.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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