High School Tennis and Volleyball Teams Create Big Tournament Surprises

High school spring sports tournaments had some big surprises on Friday. Newton South boys' tennis beat the defending state champions St. John's Prep with a score of 3-2. This was a huge upset because St. John's Prep had won the championship for the past two years. Meanwhile, four volleyball teams from the same conference made it to the Division 1 semifinals.

The biggest shock came when Newton South tennis players traveled to face St. John's Prep. St. John's Prep was the top seed and had won five championships in a row. Newton South was only the sixth seed, which meant they weren't expected to win. The match came down to the final set with the score tied 4-4.

Newton South won by taking both doubles matches. Ben Hong and Neal Zota won the first doubles match, while Ezra Levy and Susana-Dudani won the second doubles match. Graham Horine also won his singles match with scores of 6-1 and 6-2. Their coach Matt Timmins said it felt amazing to win such an important game.

In boys' volleyball, Newton North created another surprise. Even though they were defending Division 1 champions, they entered this tournament as the 12th seed. They have now won three games in a row, including beating fourth-seeded Chelmsford. Aaron Stein led Newton North with 17 kills to help his team advance to the semifinals.

Several players had outstanding individual performances during Friday's games. Cohasset's Gus Greene scored five goals and had five assists in lacrosse. In softball, many players hit home runs to help their teams win. These strong performances helped their teams move forward in the tournament playoffs.