5/20/2019
It was a great season for RL tennis. The varsity squad, arguably the best in RL history, finished their season this week with a 15-0 record and two titles. In defeating St. Sebastian’s this week, RL claimed its seventh ISL title in nine years. Over 90 singles matches this year, RL lost only three, scoring an incredible 87 points over the course of their season. Guided by longtime head Coach Ousmane Diop, the team also won the New England Class B Tournament, which gathers the best teams from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Though RL had made it to the final rounds in the tournament in 2017 and 2018, this was their first New England title win since 2013.
RL was the number one seed in the New England tournament and hosted the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, where they beat Nobles 4-0 and Belmont Hill 5-0 respectively. In the final round, hosted by Groton, RL faced Middlesex—another familiar ISL foe—and clinched the doubles point despite strong resistance from Middlesex players. Captain Joey Barrett (II), Walker Oberg (III), and Captain Brendan Jimenez (I) then won at #1, #2, and #3 singles to seal the title.
As we look toward next year and beyond, Coach Diop is optimistic for RL tennis. The varsity squad is graduating only one senior – Capatin Brendan Jimenez. The other nine varsity players will return next year as defending ISL champions. The junior team also had a successful season, taking home the team prize at their invitational middle school tournament at Fessenden School. This was the first tournament win for RL’s junior team. Eric Diop (VI) made it to the semifinal round and Frankie Gutierrez (IV) went all the way to the finals. Will Hutter (V) and Leonardo Bene (VI) also made important contributions to the overall team win.
