What’s another day?
The South Hadley boys tennis team waited 10 days after beating Belchertown in the Western Massachusetts championship for a crack at Central Mass. champion Hopedale in the Division 3 state semifinals Monday.
Soaring heat postponed the match 24 hours to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury.
“We were a little bummed, but it gives us another day to prepare,” South Hadley senior Connor Barbacki said.
Coach Dan Dubuc kept practice on track for the week in between the sectional final and state semifinal. Alumni reached out to him after their victory, offering congratulations and help. He brought in as many as he could to test his current squad. Despite the attention, the Tigers have maintained their routine.
“They’re not really letting the moment get too big for them. They realize not a lot of people could have predicted us to be in this spot,” Dubuc said. “They want to prove it wasn’t an accident.”
Hopedale played in the state title match last year. This season, the Blue Raiders (15-4) dispatched Whitinsville Christian 4-1 in their sectional final. One advantage to South Hadley’s long layoff: Dubuc watched Hopedale play for the Central title.
“We’ve got our work cut out. They play the way we would like to play: consistent, do all the little things,” he said. “We’re going to have to play our best tennis to be competitive.”
Sophomore Jack Figgins has stood out at No. 1 singles despite his diminutive stature.
“You can’t let his size throw you off,” Dubuc said. “He hits the living daylights out of the ball.”
The Tigers (12-8) are preparing to face a team that plays like they do, so playing each other over the past week has been a helpful exercise.
Barabacki provides a steady presence at No. 1 singles. He was the last man on the court in both the sectional semifinals and finals. If he faltered in either match, South Hadley wouldn’t be here.
Michael Zhou overturned two regular season losses to Belchertown’s Noah Pare in the sectional final at No. 2 singles to help secure the win.
John Parentau has established himself at No. 3 singles, while Zach Kotfila and Jack Canavan-Gosselin play at No. 1 doubles, and Gavin Lipp and Nate Piligian round out the lineup at No. 2 doubles.
They’ve never been this far but aren’t letting the moment overwhelm them.
“We’ve been treating it like any other match. We don’t want to get into our own heads,” Barbacki said. “We do want to win to show that we belong. We weren’t expected to be here, but we want to show that we deserve to.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.