Redmen Roundup: Golf Team Stuns North Andover, Volleyball Spikes Bedford

Golf

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by TMHS Golf Coach Jim Sullivan.)

Tewksbury 12, North Andover 8

Group 1
1. Tyler Slavin Lost 3&2
2. Jeff Giasullo Win 4&3
North Andover's number 1 defeated Tewksbury's Tyler Slavin 3&2 after Slavin fought hard to get to the fifth hole 1 down. A long range birdie putt from off the green for Brown put Slavin 2 down and he went on to win the match on the seventh hole. "Tyler's a great kid who is a really good golfer and works tremendously hard at it and has just been snake bitten lately against some very good players. He will bounce back and be back where he usually is." Number 2 Jeff Giasullo has been playing very good for us lately and he continued that excellent play again today with a 4&3 win over North Andover's Justin Myerson. North Andover won the Four Ball match 2&1. After the first group North Andover led the match 3-2.
Group 2
3. Pat Doherty Win 3&1
4. Derek Petti Lost 1 Down
     Tewksbury's Pat Doherty and North Andover's Austin Brown came out on fire today going 2 up and 3 up respectively through the first 3 holes. Pat was able to keep that lead between 1 and 2 up throughout the match and end up winning the match 3&1 on the eighth hole. North Andover's Brown wasn't as fortunate as Tewksbury's Derek Petti fought hard and won three consecutive holes, the fifth, sixth, and seventh holes and then flatted the eighth hole to get to the night tee all square in his match. Unfortunately Brown won the night hole to give North Andover two points for the individual win. Tewksbury's Doherty and Petti won the Four Ball match 2&1 which made the group score 3-2 in favor of Tewksbury, tying the match up at 5-5 at the midway point.
Group 3
5. Mike Casey Lost 1 Down
6. Ryan Muise Win 2&1
     As was the case with the first two groups, this was yet another group that was a nip and tuck battle all day long. North Andover's Will Berzenica found himself 2 up through five holes over Tewksbury's Mike Casey. Mike Casey was able to win the sixth hole to get to 1 down and then flat both the seventh and eighth holes to go to number nine 1 down. At this point in the match the score was 5-5 with two groups finished but Casey's partner Ryan Muise had already won his match as well as Casey and Muise having already won the Four Ball match 2&1 so the Redmen had 8 total points locked up in the match, need two more to assure a tie and three more for a win.

Casey made a great shot down the middle of the fairway to get the group started while his opponent was left off of the fairway, significantly shorter than  Mike. North Andover's Will B. was able to knock his second shot to within 1 foot, gimmie range, sure to make a birdie. Mike then stepped up and knocked his second shot to within 6 feet but unfortunately Mike two putted for a par while North Andover's Will B. tapped his in form Birdie giving him the 2 up win and earning the 2 individual points for North Andover.

Ryan Muise won his individual match 2&1 in typical Ryan Muise fashion, very business like and unassuming fashion. Ryan is the type of kid that you never know if he's winning or losing because he is so level headed and his demeanor never changes which is a great thing to have as a golfer. Muise did come from behind after being 1 down through 3 holes to get to 2 up through 7 holes and then end the match on the eighth.

Muise and Casey were also able to partner for a solid 2&1 Four Ball win as well. For the second straight group Tewksbury took a 3-2 group score and took the lead 8-6 overall in the match. With that, the match would come down to the last group.....
Group 4
7. Eric Hunter Flat
8. Zach Strahan Win 3&2
While Mike Casey was on the ninth tee trying to even up his match, Zach Strahan was ending his on the seventh green. Zach was once again able to win his match 3&2 to continue his winning streak on the season. Knowing that the team had eight points locked in already his two points assured the team of at least a tie with ten points! "Zach has really been playing well for us this season, he gives us a lot of confidence heading down the stretch knowing that we can count on him late in matches."

At the same time, Eric Hunter, who was playing in the seven spot again today for the Redmen had gone through a huge reversal of fortune in his match. Eric had been 2 up through three holes and now found himself 1 down through seven holes......Eric was well aware that we needed him to pull out no worse than a flat in his match or at least help contribute to a flat in the Four Ball match to get the necessary points to win the match. Unfortunately Eric flatted the eighth hole to remain 1 down but the good news was that Zach Stahan was able to make a par 4 on the eighth hole to even up the Four Ball match heading to nine tee. With much anticipation  al four players made good tee shots off of number nine tee.

With that, Tewksbury's Hunter was the only one able to get home with a par 4 to earn a flat in his individual match as well as winning the Four Ball match for both he and his partner Zach Strahan! With this, Tewksbury was able to win the group by a 4-1 score making the final score of the match 12-8 in favor of the Redmen!
     This was a great match and win for not only the eighth guys that played in the match today but for all the guys on our team. This was a terrific win for everyone today. North Andover is new in the league and is just two years removed from winning the Division II North Sectional Title and has jumped out to a great start so far in their first year in the Merrimack Valley Conference. Up to this point in the season North Andover had been undefeated with only one tie.

Both Coach Drouin and I are ecstatic with the way that our guys came out and played today. We really haven't done a great job of answering the bell in these big matches thus far this year but today was a different story. We as coaches understand also that this was North Andover's first match on this course, even though their kids played the course yesterday for their practice, out guys just came out and played very well and were able to handle the pressure down the stretch at the end of the match and for that reason we are very proud of them!

We had a really good two days of practice in which all 13 of our guys helped out and contributed and that's why we are really happy and proud of all of them! Next week brings four more opportunities for our guys to go out and prove themselves against the best the MVC has to offer with matches against Dracut, Methuen, Andover and a rematch with North Andover over at North Andover Country Club. We have three of the four matches on the road which again provides another challenge for us but hopefully we will continue to build off of the good performance at Haverhill and the win at Lowell last week. Our record now stands at 6-3 and we will be taking next week one match at a time giving our best effort each day on each swing on each hole.

Girls Volleyball

Tewksbury 3, Bedford 2

The Tewksbury girls volleyball team picked up a huge win on Friday, taking out Bedford High, three sets to two. The Redmen never trailed, taking the first (25-11) and third (25-13) games handily. But Bedford rallied, taking the second and fourth games. The fifth game was tight but Tewksbury dug deep to pull our a 15-11 win.

Kelli Sugrue had another strong game for Tewksbury, recording six aces, two blocks and 13 kills. Tiffany Marsh had 18 digs and two aces, while Missy Cordwell had eight kills, three aces and six digs. Shannon McLaughlin and Jen Cobuccio also played very well in this total team victory.

With the win, Tewksbury improved to 3-4 on the season.