LEXINGTON — Tennis can be a solitary sport, but not the way Lexington High School runs its program.
Led by 10th-year coach Chris Pugliese, the Minutemen have appeared in two of the last three Division 1 state finals, winning the school’s first state championship in 2014, and are off to another hot start this spring.
Lexington (12-0) is undefeated after winning 11 of its first 12 contests, 5-0.The Minutemen, who have dropped four total sets, swept Middlesex League rival Reading, 5-0, on Monday evening, presenting Pugliese with his 200th career win. They take on fellow league titan Winchester (12-0) on Wednesday.
And it’s not as if the Minutemen have been running up the score.
Quite the contrary, as Pugliese continues to ensure that each and every player on the roster — whether they are freshmen, sophomores, or technically on the junior varsity squad — gets a chance to compete in at least one varsity match per season.
So far this season, 19 JV players have competed against varsity competition and the Minutemen still have only lost a total of 99 games.
On Saturday, senior cocaptain Ben Maffa dropped Lexington’s first match of the season, 7-5, 6-4, to Barnstable’s Max Francis, but the Minutemen are still on pace for another very successful campaign.
“From Day One, since I started coaching, I wanted to bring this team together,’’ said Pugliese, a former standout at Burlington High and Colby-Sawyer College.
“I wanted us to gel and to cheer for each other. Every kid I’ve coached over the last 10 years has earned a varsity letter. All 25 guys on the team get a chance to compete and we’ve done a lot of activities outside of practice and games because I think it’s important that we’re all in it together.’’
That inclusion is paying off for the Minutemen; they’ve been able to get the most out of underclassmen such as Griffin Posey and Charles Wang.
Posey went 20-1 at second singles matches and was named a Middlesex League all-star as a freshman last year; Wang was a Globe All Scholastic athlete as part of Lexington’s first doubles team in 2016.
Wang actually competed against senior cocaptain Charley Zhao and Lexington’s second doubles team in the Division 1 North final last spring. As rare as it may be for one program to send two teams to the sectional finals, that marked the second time it has happened for Lexington over the last three years, further evidence of the positive effects of an inclusive atmosphere.
“When you see JV kids come in and play varsity matches, it really shows that our program doesn’t have a line differentiating the teams,’’ said Zhao, another returning All-Scholastic.
“Everyone can keep up with each other and there’s not really a distinction in terms of skill level. Mostly the distinction comes in terms of experience.’’
Specialization has also played a critical role in Lexington’s sustained success. Sophomores such as Posey and Wang have been playing tennis since they could walk, and nearly every one on the team trains at Boston Sports Club Lexington all year.
“Our kids play a lot year-round and that’s a big part of why we’re so deep. And unlike other programs, we don’t have many multi-sport athletes. We only have one kid on our team that plays another sport. These kids just love the game of tennis,’’ said Pugliese.
And tennis has done a lot for the students. Wang, a diminutive young athlete who admittedly struggled to find social outlets as a freshman, explained how he found a home on the hardcourt last spring.
“I feel like tennis in general is more of an isolated game, but the team aspect here at LHS is something that I never really experienced,’’ Wang said. “It’s helped me build relationships, helped with my social skills and my tennis game as well.’’
Pugliese’s inclusive approach has undoubtedly contributed to Lexington’s success over the past few seasons and with a loaded roster under his tutelage, a 10th consecutive ML title is almost a foregone conclusion and a run toward another state title could be in the cards.
“It’s amazing that we have such a huge team but we’re still able to communicate and develop great relationships with everyone,’’ said Maffa, who broke onto the scene as Lexington’s third singles player during the 2014 state championship and plays first singles this year.
“Expectations are always pretty high for Lexington tennis. We’ve started the season very well and we have a calm atmosphere, but at the same time it’s very intense and we expect a lot of ourselves.’’
