NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck boys tennis team comes into the season with something the Greyhounds haven’t had in a few years — consistency at the top.
For the first time in three seasons the Greyhounds will begin the season with the same head coach after going through three coaches in a three-year span.
Second-year head coach Anthony Mariano instilled a winning style, and the team went from 5-11 to a respectable 9-6 last season. Armed with just two seniors — Kevin Lopes and Jacob Torres — the ‘Hounds earned the No. 4 seed in the NVL tournament last year. Naugatuck won a quarterfinal match before running into eventual league champion, Wolcott, in the semifinals.
After tasting success last season, the Greyhounds come into this year looking to continue their winning ways.
“Developing that relationship of trust is very important,” Mariano said. “To be back here and know the kids and building on what we started last season is the key continuing that success.”
It certainly helps to have three seniors coming back in P.J. Morrissey, Marco Rebelo and Matt Triscritti. Naugy will also be bolstered by two additional seniors, Devon Curtis and Rob Spino, who joined the team this season.
“We are returning five out of six starters,” Mariano said. “We lost our number one singles player in Jonas Mauermann, an exchange student from Germany, but the guys coming back gained a lot of valuable experience last year. Along with that came a fair amount of success, so they come back with even more confidence.”
The Greyhounds also had a few younger players who stepped in and filled some important roles last year. Junior Alec Durante was a key member of the doubles teams, and sophomores Jared Montini and Michael Rivera found their way into the starting lineup as freshmen.
“We have soccer players out here, basketball players,” Mariano said. “We have guys who are athletes and if they can learn the stroke they can become great players.
“I see a lot of the younger kids getting better each day. Montini and Rivera stepped up last year and secured a spot in the lineup. They have attracted a lot of younger players to come out.”
The team has seen an influx of players this year.
“We had 31 kids come out, which is more than double the 15 players we had last year,” Mariano said. “We have some spots to fill and any one of these younger players can step up like Jared and Michael did last year.”
Naugatuck is scheduled to start the season April 3 at home against Kennedy, followed by a match versus Woodland on April 5.
