#7 seed STA boys stun #2 Plymouth; advance to D2 NH State Semi Finals.

The St. Thomas (10-5) boys tennis team provided D2's only playoff upset when they beat Plymouth (12-2) 6-3 at Plymouth State University.  The match was well on its way to being postponed as heavy rain flooded Plymouth's home courts.  The AD was able to book Plymouth State to prevent STA from having to travel back the next day.  After a long delay and a lot of sitting around, the highly anticipated quarterfinal matchup began.

Sophomore Jake McGuire put the Saints on the board first.  The #4 for STA has been rock-solid all year and continued his impressive season with the 8-5 victory.  Captain Miguel Diaz started slow has he surrendered the first 3 games at the #1 spot.  Despite being down 3-0, Diaz stepped up his play and was able to come from behind and pick up the 8-4 victory putting the Saints up 2-0.  With a chance to put the match away early,  STA suffered heartbreaking losses which allowed Plymouth to knot things up 2-2.  Senior Hayden Blaisdell held a few leads before losing a close match at #5 singles 6-8.  The same goes for Junior Jack Dillow has he eventually fell 7-9 in a nail biter at #2 singles.

Tied 2-2, Coach knew the Saints needed at least 1 if not both of the last 2 singles matches before heading into doubles.  They were able to take both behind strong performances from sophomore Owen Himmer and Junior Baxter Kimball.  Kimball took home an impressive 8-3 win at #6 while Himmer provided the crucial 4th point at #3 singles with his 8-5 victory.  Heading into doubles, STA needed just 1 out of 3 to earn the upset.

The steady doubles pairing of McGuire and Kimball wasted little time as they locked up the match with the 8-2 victory at #2 doubles.  The boys could breathe as the last two matches wouldn't affect the outcome for the team.  Regardless of the outcome, the matches provided a lot of excitement and drama.  The duo of Dillow and junior Jack Benelli fell 6-8 in a tightly contested matchup in the #3 spot.  Diaz and Himmer held on at #1 doubles 9-8 (7-3) in a back and forth intense matchup.

While this was seen as an upset based on seeding, the STA boys felt they were worthy of being placed as one of D2's top 4 teams.  Their difficult schedule prepared them for this win and after a 2-win season a year ago, the STA boys tennis team are heading to the D2 NH State Semi Finals!