Lebanon
Luckily for the Raiders, the overbearing workload seems to be complementing their dominance. Wednesday afternoon was no different as Lebanon overpowered struggling Con-Val, 9-0, at the Carter Community Building Association’s tennis courts.
For Lebanon head coach Michael Haxton, it’s exactly where he expected his team to be one year removed from falling just short in the state championship match to Portsmouth. With five more matches remaining until the New Hampshire Division II tournament, and Oyster River and Portsmouth keeping pace with undefeated records of their own, it’s almost impossible for the Raiders to look ahead at the road to a state championship.
“Definitely, it’s given us a drive this year to succeed more,” Lebanon junior Jacob Peress said. “We want to get back there and beat Portsmouth and Oyster River. … Whoever it is.
“After how close we got last year, we definitely want revenge on Portsmouth. Specifically Portsmouth. We want to play them in the final.”
This year’s Lebanon team is both drastically different from and encouragingly similar to last year’s runner-up squad, with the notable absence of captain Max Reed at No. 1 singles and doubles. Reed’s graduation left a leadership void on a team that returned all but one of its starters, so much so that Lebanon went with two co-captains this season instead of one leader to help fill his shoes.
“He’s very charismatic, he’s very social and very encouraging,” said co-captain Peress, who has taken over for Reed at No. 1 singles. “He was the best captain we could have ever hoped for. We need two people to fill in his footsteps. I don’t think I’ll be as good as Max at the tennis perspective, but I try to be as good a co-captain as he was.”
But ending their season just short of a state championship, a first for both Haxton and the Lebanon tennis program, has lit a fire under this year’s team. Simply put, the returning Raiders now know exactly what it takes and are pushing all the right buttons to get a second chance.
“I told them, ‘Look, you guys have a great opportunity to win back-to-back state championships,’ ” Haxton said of his sophomore- and junior-heavy group. “Portsmouth is graduating most of their lineup. We don’t graduate a starter (this year).”
Con-Val (3-7) was no match for Lebanon’s depth on Wednesday, as six of the Raiders’ nine wins went uncontested. The exception was No. 3 singles, as Lebanon junior Noah Didehbani and Con-Val’s Alex Chambers, tied 8-8, needed a tie-breaking game that Dedehbani won, 7-4. Didehbani’s match took more than an hour to complete.
Lebanon has not dropped more than one point in any of its nine matches to date.
Each match the Raiders play bring them closer to a rematch with one of D-II’s top teams. In some ways, this year’s regular season has been transformed into one long, repetitive preseason, tuning Lebanon up for its postseason run, a fact that’s become more evident given that Lebanon will not face Oyster River or Portsmouth until teams are playing for keeps.
“I think it’s definitely a disadvantage that we don’t get to play one of the best teams in the division (in the regular season),” Peress said. “I wish we did.”
Until then, Haxton is keeping his team focused on the task at hand. Plymouth, Friday’s opponent, is 7-4 this season, with two losses to Oyster River, a fact Haxton illustrated in his post-match speech. Next week, Haxton will work his team into shape, play his squad against itself to finalize the lineup and roll into the postseason with no stone unturned.
“That’s what we’re working on this year, to be playoff-ready,” Haxton said.
This time, no mistakes.
“Definitely because it was close, it hurt more,” Peress said. “If we had got smoked, 9-0, it would have been like, ‘Oh well, we got here.’ But because it was so close, it was like, ‘Wow, it could have been us.’ Now we want it. We know we can do it.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or at 603-727-3306.