WATERBORO — The Massabesic boys’ tennis team came up just short of its first win of the season Tuesday against Biddeford, but the Mustangs had another chance Wednesday and got the job done, cruising to a 5-0 win over Sanford for its first-ever victory at the school’s new tennis facility.

“It’s incredible … you know, it’s the new courts and I’ve been looking forward to getting a win on these courts,” said Massabesic senior Joel Van Tassell.

Van Tassell started things off for the Mustangs (1-3) with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Felix Meas at first singles.

“It was a great feeling,” said Van Tassell on getting his first win this season. “Sanford’s always been our rival, and every year it’s a toss-up between the two teams. They definitely gave us a good battle. We went into some third sets, and that always means it was a good game.”

Alex Herrick took down Brayden Ginchereau at second singles, 6-2, 6-2, while Dan Bolender made it a clean sweep in singles for Massabesic with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Zachary Bresett.

The best match of the day came at first doubles, where Noah Perry and Ryan Townsend needed three sets to beat Kyle Bresett and Nick Works, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

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Massabesic’s second doubles team of Zach Bandle and Michael Morin closed things out with a 7-5, 6-4 win.

“Close matches, and we had close matches (on Tuesday) that didn’t result the same. You know (against) Biddeford, we lost 3-2 with tiebreakers, so the motivator was we’ve got to get the second set and don’t let it go to a third … the guys pulled through,” said Massabesic Coach Pat Parent.

“I’ve got some experienced kids, some seniors, and they did what they needed to do.”

Parent is hoping the new facility will help the sport grow at Massabesic.

“It’s really nice to have courts with a true bounce. We’ve got space for practices, so it’s been good, and hopefully it will draw a lot more interest in tennis,” Parent said.

Van Tassell is happy he has the opportunity to play on the new courts before he graduates.

“It’s incredible for the school. Usually it’s hard for us to get funding for new (facilities), but we got really lucky this year with a new stadium and tennis courts. It’s just amazing to be able to have a win on (the new courts) to show that we actually worked to get these courts,” said Van Tassell.

Despite the loss, Sanford Coach Rossie Kearson was happy with his team’s effort and said he’s seen improvement throughout the first four matches of the season.

“For me, in comparison to last year, it’s like every match that we’ve played we’ve made progress, and it has been good progress and we can see it,” said Kearson. “You don’t see it in wins, and I know it’s discouraging to the kids and all, but they can also see that it’s not 6-0, 6-0 every match that they’re playing.”


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