Mulry, First Year Coach to Build Upon what the Tennis Team has been Building

Last spring the Hopedale boy’s tennis team went 13-3 during the regular season and earned themselves a number four seed in the Division 3 Central Tournament. Once there the Blue Raiders went on an impressive run to capture the Division 3 Championship. Hopedale dispatched of Tyngsboro 4-1 in the first round, shut out Leicester 5-0 in the next round before edging out Whitinsville-Christian 3-2 for the Title.
After bringing home the Division Championship the Blue Raiders found they were not quite finished yet and took out Mount Greylock 5-0 in the first round of the Division 3 Championship. However, as good as a season they were having good things have to end sometime, they were just hoping it was after the State Title match. Weston ended Hopedale’s season with a 4-1 win leaving the Blue Raiders one win short.
Looking back at what the boy’s tennis team accomplished last year, the team will try to earn that one extra win that eluded them however, they will be doing it with a new coach. Ryan Mulry, who has never coached tennis, but loves the sport, decided to help the school out and take on the vacant position.
“As a first year coach, I’m just trying to build upon what Hopedale tennis has been building,” the first year tennis coach said.
Luckily, Mulry has the majority of last year’s team coming back.
Senior captain Matt Constanza was slated to play number one singles for the Blue Raiders when the season opened, however a broken wrist could keep him out of the lineup for some time. In the senior’s absence sophomore Jack Figgins, who played at third singles for Hopedale last spring, will move on up from his second singles slot and into the top spot on the court.
“Being so young you would think that it would bother him (playing at number one singles against older athletes), but he slid right in and dominated,” Mulry said. “It didn’t phased him at all, he just went with the flow. He’s a hard working individual that is relentless once he steps onto the court.”
One of Figgins biggest attributes is that he wears his opponent down and makes them make the mistakes.
With the sophomore moving up to the top notch, Mulry had to readjust his lineup. Junior Jackson Tahmoush will play second singles, while the coach will give junior Ben Tammaro a shot at third singles. Tammaro has never played tennis competitively prior to this year, but has shown he has what it takes.
On the doubles circuit Mulry will team junior Gabe Terando and freshman Tyler Flynn at first doubles and has Wes Rodrigues and Ben Tahmoush as the second doubles team.
“Gabe is a skilled tennis player who has had doubles experience in big matches, while Tyler is confident playing on the same court with Gabe,” the coach said. “At second doubles I was looking to put together an experienced upperclassmen team and Ben and Wes have performed well together.”
As the team gets ready to take to the court for the spring season, Mulry and his Blue Raider racketeers are looking to continue to get better each and every match on their way to the ultimate goal is to win the Dual Valley Conference.
“The DVC is the team’s number one priority, while making our way into the tournament, because once you get into the tournament anything can happen,” Mulry said.