Concord’s Jonah Gaby sealed his senior night with a come-from-behind, emphatic doubles win with junior Martin Pennington against Manchester Central after easily winning his singles match and leading the charge for the Tide.

He started playing with his family when he was young, but did not train seriously until he decided to try out for Concord’s team in his sophomore year. Over time, his commitment and enjoyment grew, and this year, he’s moved up to be the fourth player in the lineup.

“It feels amazing. It’s been rough for me this year; I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve lost some easy matches, I haven’t really had any good standout moments, but this was definitely one of them,” Gaby said.

Concord’s boys’ tennis team (2-7) has had its largest roster in many years, and although that has not translated into immediate wins, it has grown the spirit for the sport and the kinship within the team, according to coaches Kevin Parsons and Richie Clar. On Thursday, the team lost narrowly, 5-4, but spirits and camaraderie were at an all-time high as everyone cheered on until the last point.

Two of the team’s top recruiters in school, seniors Carl Sirianna and Oliver Quinn, joined their freshman year looking to find a change of pace from the intensity of their other sports, and found a home in the sport despite tough competition within D-I.

Even though they fell in singles and doubles to Central (3-7), the two experienced veterans were relaxing and talking to friends on the outside of the fence after their matches.

Sirianna, a three-sport athlete in golf, wrestling and tennis, explained that in the other two sports, Concord is always in contention for a state title. He loves winning, but the pressure and emotional toll of performing at a high level can be high. He said that all year, in English class, they just could not wait for tennis season.

Quinn echoed that sentiment. On the swim team, it’s all about speed, drive and peak physical performance, but on tennis, he found a sweet spot. 

“It was also like, Carl and I were freshmen once on the team, I think the seniors when we were freshmen were great and that helped us say, ‘Okay, when we’re seniors, we want to be able to help out, we want to do it,’” he explained. “So, if you know, people have questions or anything. We’re happy to help.”

After the game, as the sun set on Memorial Field, with six games left in the season, the team rejoiced in their shared love for the sport and laughed among family and friends. All eight seniors, Gaby, Sirianna, Quinn, David Bourgeois, Robert Rochford, Bryce Fisher, Adarsh Bhattaral and Ian Gilkinson celebrated the night by scarfing down some hard-earned pizza.

“We have a really good team dynamic. We always have fun on the bus rides, and we always have fun with each other before and after practices,” Gaby concluded. “You don’t really get that with all of the sports. Even though it’s kind of individual, it’s a team sport.”