The Vermont Academy boys' varsity tennis team lost another close match against Holderness this past Saturday, May 14.  While the top seeded players for VA continued to excel, Holderness's depth proved too much for the bottom half of the Wildcats' lineup, resulting in a 3-6 loss.

Jon Kraiger continued his undefeated streak at first singles.  His power and experience proved too much for a young opponent, leading to a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win.  Kraiger looks to continue to build the momentum as he prepares for the Lakes Region tournament this coming Saturday.

At second singles, Danny Burt played hard against a very consistent opponent, and just missed taking the match by only a few points each set.  Despite building momentum toward the end of the match and prolonging the second set with his back against the wall, Burt eventually fell in straight sets, 5-7, 5-7.  Ho-Kyun Chung, on the other hand, played one of his better matches of the season at third singles, earning a second point for the Wildcats.  He stayed calm and collected to win a close first set, and quickly took over the second set to secure a victory.

Dee Jai Cowles, Jimmy Kim, and Feng Jin rounded out the VA singles lineup at fourth, fifth, and sixth singles, respectively.  Playing against perhaps the most talented "bottom half" of the lineup the Wildcats have seen all year, each dropped their first sets fairly quickly, and despite significant improvement in the second sets, were unable to recover completely.  Jin in particular forced a shocking turnaround by winning his second set, only to fall short in a tie-breaker.

The doubles pair of Kraiger and Burt survived a tough match at first doubles to earn VA its third and final point, but again, Holderness's depth provided two more points for the Bulls to secure a Holderness victory.

The Wildcats have one more match this Wednesday, May 18 against Cardigan as they prepare for the Lakes Region tournament at New Hampton this Saturday.

The boys' varsity tennis team lost 3-6 in an extremely close match to Kimball Union Academy this Wednesday, May 11.  The match saw a number of tie-breakers, with the narrow edge falling in KUA's favor during the final games of the doubles matches.

At singles, Jon Kraiger continued his undefeated streak, dispensing his opponent in two quick sets.  Ho Chung played well at second singles, but was outplayed by a very strong opponent.  Both Danny Burt and Dee Jai Cowles battled through illness at third and fourth singles respectively, eventually losing in straight sets.  Highlights for the VA Wildcats came at fifth and sixth singles, where both Feng Jin and Sejung Kim came back to win in tie-breakers after dropping their first sets.  Kim earned the second point of the day for VA in his first varsity singles match ever, while Jin persevered through the longest match of the day to earn VA its third point of the day and tie the match at 3-3 going into doubles play.

VA got off to a strong start at doubles, jumping to an early lead in both first and second doubles.  However, the first doubles pair of Cowles and Kraiger eventually lost their lead, as did the second doubles pair of Chung and Jin.  In the end, all three doubles pairs for VA fell short, as KUA earned a hard-fought 6-3 victory.

VA has only one day of practice before hosting Bellows Falls this Friday, May 13.

The varsity boys' tennis team had a long afternoon at Northfield Mount Hermon this past Saturday, May 7, as it lost its second match in a row by a score of 3-6.

The Wildcats had trouble adjusting to a different format, as doubles matches were played first at NMH.  The duo of Jon Kraiger and Danny Burt continued its winning streak with a dominant victory at first doubles, but the pairs of Ho-Kyun Chung and Jimmy Kim, as well as Jacob Marmor and Feng Jin, lost at second and third doubles respectively.  Playing with "Ads" for the first time all year, matches were often prolonged by very close games.

After dropping two of three doubles matches, many players had a hard time re-focusing for their singles matches.  Both Chung and Dee Jai Cowles lost at second and fifth singles before ever really hitting their strides.  Meanwhile, Kim and Jin lost at fourth and sixth singles in two of the longest matches of the season (Kim's match went to two tie-breakers).

Kraiger remained undefeated at first singles, earning the Wildcats their second of three points, while Burt battled back from a difficult first set to win his match at third singles in a tie-breaker.

The Wildcats look to bounce back with an important match this Wednesday, May 11 at KUA.

The boys' varsity tennis team dropped another close match to Proctor this Friday, May 6, losing 3-6.  While captain Jon Kraiger remained undefeated at first singles, he was the only Wildcat to win his singles match.  He and senior Danny Burt also earned a win at first doubles, and the third doubles pair of Jacob Marmor and Feng Jin played very well to earn a third and final point for VA.

At singles, VA showed stretches of solid play throughout the match, but had trouble with consistency.  Burt and Ho-Kyun Chung each hit a number of impressive winners during their matches at second and fourth singles respectively, but they were both plagued by unforced errors.  At fifth and sixth singles, Jimmy Kim and Feng Jin both struggled to find a rhythm against two players whose unconventional styles frustrated them throughout the match.  One highlight of the day came from senior Dee Jai Cowles, who played his best tennis of the year against a very strong opponent.  Cowles battled to a tie-breaker in his first set, eventuallly losing 7-9, and was unable to recover in the second set.

Wins for the Wildcats at first and thirds doubles were not enough to take the match for VA, and the second doubles pair of Sejung Kim and Jonas Lee fell to a very strong Proctor pair.

The Wildcats will have to regroup quickly, as they travel to NMH this Saturday, May 7 for the third match of the week.

The Vermont Academy boys' tennis team earned its second straight victory at Brewster this Monday, May 2 in a long, hard-fought match.  After nearly three hours on the bus, the boys arrived focused and ready to play, with a number of players earning crucial match wins in tie-breakers.

Jon Kraiger continued his dominance  at first singles, and he was joined in the winner's bracket by Jimmy Kim at fourth singles and Jonas Lee, who made his singles debut at sixth singles.  Both Kim and Lee really had to earn their wins, as they were very evenly matched against players with strong serving games.  The Wildcats emerged from the singles matches tied at 3-3, with the deciding points to be earned on the doubles courts.

Senior Danny Burt avenged his singles tie-break loss with an impressive turnaround at first doubles.  He and Kraiger delivered a strong performance to secure a fourth point for VA.  Moments later, Ho-Kyun Chung, along with Kim, avenged his own defeat at second singles in a hard-fought victory at second doubles.  Chung and Kim's victory at second doubles secured the win for VA, putting a satisfying cap on a long afternoon of tennis.

The boys look to keep the streak alive this Wednesday, May 4, as they travel to Tilton for their second of four matches this week.

The boys' varsity tennis team hosted Dublin on Saturday, April 30, earning its first win of the season on one of the first sunny days of the year.  Also for the first time of the season, all 11 members of the team worked their way into the line-up, with Ross Holzschuh playing his first match ever at sixth singles, while Sejung Kim and Steven Tabor played doubles for the first time.

The Wildcats dominated singles play, with the regular line-up of Jon Kraiger, Ho-Kyun Chung, Danny Burt, Dee-Jai Cowles, and Jimmy Kim winning the firts five singles matches to seal the victory for VA.  Jacob Marmor and Feng Jin then took over at first doubles, winning their match with a very strong performance.

The doubles pairs of Jonas Lee/Sejung Kim and Jimmy Kim/Steven Tabor rounded out the line-up for VA, as each player earned valuable match play experience and represented the school well.

The Wildcats look to keep the momentum as they travel to Brewster this Monday, May 2 for their first of four matches this week.

The boys' varsity tennis team struggled this Wednesday, April 27 against a very solid New Hampton team.  Team captain Jon Kraiger came out firing on all cylindars at first singles, winning his match quickly in two sets and providing the Wildcats with their only win of the day.  Ho Chung, Danny Burt, Dee Jai Cowles, Jimmy Kim, and Feng Jin fought hard in their singles matches, but all fell short.

The Wildcats struggled to match New Hampton's consistent play from top to bottom.  Each singles match was marked by spurts of dominant play by VA, but a very calm and steady New Hampton team was too much to overcome.  After struggling in the sun during the singles matches, VA then dropped all three doubles matches to close out the day with a 1-8 loss.

The boys are looking forward to a turn in the weather so that they can begin to get more productive time on the courts.  With more court time, we will look to continue to gain confidence and consistency with our match play.  We are also hoping for good weather this Friday, April 29, as we travel to Dublin for our next match.

The VA boys' varsity tennis team travelled to Proctor for its first match of the season this past Saturday, April 16.  Despite dropping six of the nine matches, the boys played well and battled through very difficult weather conditions.

The Wildcats were led at first singles by captain Jon Kraiger, who won his singles match in straight sets and then, alongside Danny Burt, took first doubles as well.  Burt, Dee Jai Cowles, and Ho-Kyun Chung lost tough matches at second, third, and fourth singles respectively.  Each showed glimpses of dominant play throughout their matches, but all three struggled to maintain any consistent momentum in the strong winds and cold.  Chung's match at fourth singles was particularly hard-fought, as he battled back after dropping the first set to eventually lose the second set in a tie-breaker.

Rounding out the singles matches were Jimmy Kim at fifth singles and Jacob Marmor at sixth singles.  Kim, who was easily the team's most consistent player of the day, won his match and gave VA its third and final point of the day, while Marmor struggled through injury and eventually lost in straight sets.

Also in the VA line-up were Feng Jin, who joined Cowles at second doubles, and Jonas Lee, who joined Chung at third doubles.  Jin and Cowles showed impressive resolve late in the day, battling back from being down 1-6 in their match to eventually force a tie-breaker.

The boys look to build off of this defeat and are already at work preparing for our next match, this Wednesday April 20 at Brewster Academy.

After finalizing the varsity roster last Saturday, the boys held elections to decide who would join Jon Kraiger as team captain for the 2011 season.  The voting resulted in an even split between seniors Ho-Kyun Chung and Dee Jai Cowles.  All three captains bring a strong work ethic and leadership ability to the team, and have already stepped into their new roles.

Also joining the VA tennis program in a new role is coach Jared Smith.  Jared will be helping coach the team twice each week, bringing a wealth of tennis knowledge to the program and experience coaching at all levels.

After a few days of traveling to indoor courts in Londonderry, VT during the week prior to March break, the boys' varsity tennis team got its first glimpse of nice weather this week.  Despite a snow storm mid-week, we were able to get two good practices on the outdoor courts, and only had to suffer through one tough workout inside.

The guys are excited to be outside hitting.  They have approached the beginning of the season with a healthy appetite for friendly competition, spending at least a portion of each day on the courts challenging each other to "mini-sets" of both singles and doubles play.  With only a few players returning to the regular varsity line-up, the next two weeks are shaping up to be an exciting time as new faces seek to prove themselves in competition.  We can only hope that the weather will continue to improve as we prepare for our first match on Wednesday, April 13th at Brattleboro Union High School.