No. 1 PVCICS boys tennis defends title, defeats No. 3 Lee in WMass Class C final

AMHERST — Defending a sectional title is a challenge in itself.

But doing so while simultaneously improving your team’s present and future is a remarkable feat, and a testament to the program’s quality.

No. 1 Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School boys tennis has successfully managed this balance, emphasized by the Dragons’ victory over No. 3 Lee in the Western Massachusetts Class C final, 4-1, at Hampshire College on Tuesday.

Derek Ye and Devan Ye put the Dragons on the board first by winning the second doubles match (6-2, 6-1), quickly followed by Aidan Clearly wrapping up a competitive first singles match (6-2, 6-4).

With the Dragons needing just one more win, Lee Ferguson cleaned up the second singles match (6-0, 6-0) to secure the title.

Despite regularly competing against players several years older than himself throughout the season, the sixth-grader has yet to lose a match all year, as Ferguson carries a 4-0 record in first singles and an 11-0 record in second singles.

”It’s pretty cool because the whole experience is pretty new,” Ferguson said. “I haven’t had anything like it, but it’s pretty cool to be able to say I contributed to our school winning the Western Mass. tournament. I feel really happy about it.

“The only real problem is the uniform – I have to tuck it in quite a lot, but otherwise it’s really fun playing these guys who are older. They are really nice and really respectful, (which is) cool because, win or lose, they are nice to me.”

A little while later, James Scott and Teddy Scott completed a well-fought first doubles match (6-3, 6-4). The third singles match between PVCICS’ Clayton English and Lee’s Allen Ni needed a third set to decide the winner and even then the set went deep into a deep tiebreak. The two battled late into the day, but eventually, Ni pulled out a commendable comeback win for himself (5-7, 6-4, 11-9).

PVCICS coach Michael Locher highlighted how fortunate he considers himself to be to have had such a young and talented roster over the past few years.

“It’s phenomenal, and that’s kind of been our pattern over the years,” Locher said. “We’ve always had really strong sixth and seventh-graders. The fact that we keep on getting these strong sixth and seventh-graders means we should be a very good team for a number of years to come, which is nice (for me) as long as everyone keeps playing tennis.”

With this win, the Dragons head into the Division IV state tournament ranked second in the field, entering with an unbeaten record for the first time in program history at 16-0.

“The program is only four years old and Clayton (English), our senior, was a ninth-grader when he started playing for us,” Locher said. “We’ve been strong in the past, but just being undefeated was something I was not expecting at all. I thought we’d have a good chance of clinching Western Mass. again, but it’s always a struggle, you’re always dealing with unknowns – who’s injured, who’s sick, who has prom, that sort of thing.

“It’s a great feeling going undefeated and I hope all these guys appreciate their accomplishment.”

Despite taking a tough loss after battling for over two hours in the third doubles, English was in the middle of the team’s celebrations, basking in the moment while fully aware his days as a high school athlete are numbered.

“I’ve been on many of my school’s sports teams throughout my entire high school career, but tennis has been special because it was the first team that I joined,” English said. “I joined it with my friends and we watched this team build up and then grow.

“It’s so melancholy to leave. I love everyone on this team. I can’t wait to come back and watch them play next year, but it is a little bittersweet saying goodbye.”

No. 2 PVCICS will host No. 31 West Bridgewater in the Round of 32 on Thursday, May 30 at 3 p.m.

No. 10 Lee (9-6) also heads into the Div. IV state tournament and will host No. 23 Mount Everett in the Round of 32 on Friday, May 31 at 4:30 p.m.