Three-sport star has Apponequet boys tennis thinking deep playoff run
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Tennis can be a fast-moving sport. To play at a competitive level requires both athleticism and acumen, but a talented ball striker can be brought to his knees by an opponent whose gifts are of another kind.
An accomplished basketball player who picked up organized tennis in high school, Apponequet's Will Horton already had the fitness and fundamentals for the game’s footwork. Foundationally tenacious but eager to improve, Horton has developed over four years from novice to surgeon, intensely focused on his research and exploitation of opponents’ weaknesses.
Horton is the classic tennis kid’s worst nightmare.
“Will reminds me of me but better than me. I was kind of like him because I was like a backboard,” said Apponequet boys tennis coach Nate Eleuterio. “(Horton) plays some really, really good players, and they can’t beat him.”
Like his mentor/coach, Horton gets to every ball and makes the player that hit that shot reach for a little more with the next delivery, eventually overcooking a forehand that sails beyond the baseline, costing him the point.
Four lost points add up to a lost game, six games add up to a set, and with every increment confidence erodes. Muscles feel the wear, the toss goes off kilter, the grip around the racquet tightens and unforced errors increase, compounding the predicament of playing against Horton.
“Fairhaven’s and Dighton-Rehoboth’s number-one’s are really good players,” said Eleuterio, noting that Horton was recently named the most valuable player of the South Coast Conference by a panel of league coaches.
As he learned the game and made improvements, Horton has relished his emerging role as the most-dreaded opponent on the SouthCoast.
“My (tennis) game’s always been more about playing to my opponent’s weaknesses instead of my strengths,” said Horton, one of Apponequet’s all-senior starting seven as the Lakers kicked off the MIAA Division 3 state tournament with a 5-0 sweep of Hanover on Wednesday. “I think my experience in other sports definitely helped me a lot with the game of tennis itself, and definitely the strategy … there’s more to tennis than hitting the ball the hardest you can.
“It’s about more than that. The other part would be the confidence and believing in myself and not being as nervous as other players. A really close basketball game, that’s about as much pressure as I’d get in a tennis match.”
Seeded fourth with a 16-1 record, the Lakers avenged their only team-match defeat against Somerset Berkley; Apponequet took the rematch, 3-2.
According to Eleuterio, the Lakers’ streak of five straight SCC titles has been built around other multisport athletes who have taken a liking to what Hall of Famer Billie Jean King called a “lifetime sport.”
He calls second singles player Judson Cardinali “a similar story,” noting Cardinali’s status as an Apponequet student of the month.
High school tennis coaches are allowed their most match-lineup flexibility between the third singles and first doubles courts, where Ryan Abreu (a hockey and soccer player) won the first-doubles title in the SCC’s individual tournament with Eugene Jung. Jared Freitas is in that mix, along with Nick Connolly and Cory Dugdale, who form a strong second-doubles tandem.
“The Lakers, as a team 100 percent, we’re all on the same page. We just have a lot of athletes on the team that picked up tennis, we have people who are really good at adapting,” said Horton.
The furthest Apponequet has gone in the state tournament during their five-year SCC title streak was a close, 3-2 loss in last year’s quarterfinals to Martha’s Vineyard, this coming after twice defeating the Vineyarders during the regular season.
The Lakers feel they’re capable of more, and Horton is their lightning rod.
“He wasn’t always my number one. He ended up beating out my former number one. He’s the rock of our team, so athletic, smart in the game. I don’t have to say a word. ... It’s so mental, and he loves the challenge,” said Eleuterio, noting that Horton also played golf as his fall-season sport.
Eleuterio takes little credit for Horton’s development on the tennis court but more so for the connection that exposed his eventual No. 1 player to the sport beyond tennis hits with his father.
When Horton was a student of the year as a sixth grader, he attended Eleuterio’s summer camp for middle-school tennis players. Horton needed an activity and would later tell his coach that, had he never held the camp and was not Apponequet’s coach, he never would have chosen tennis in high school.
Eleuterio began sensing Horton’s potential during crunch time of a league match against Old Rochester when the Lakers needed a win and Horton delivered it in straight sets at third singles.
“After my freshman year, I started playing in (offseason) tournaments … sophomore year, in the offseason, I played a ton,” said Horton. “I’ve gotten stronger, so I hit the ball harder now than I used to for sure. Getting so much experience from tennis matches in high school, I’ve learned a lot of strategies for what to do against different opponents.
“It's all about handling the moment, having experiences in other sports definitely helps that. When it comes to down to it, in a team match, you kind of forget about all the skills you’ve learned. Who’s ready to handle the pressure.”
However far the Lakers go in the tournament, this is not only the end of the line for the seven seniors who will be in their starting lineup but also for Eleuterio. The timing was not by design.
“I was actually going to go last year. My kids at home are getting to the age where they’re going this way and that way,” said the 14-year coach with twin five-year-olds and a seven-year old at home. “Tennis, baseball, they’re trying all the sports now, so it’s like, ‘see what you like, basketball, soccer …’”
Apponequet will brace for a massive change in the boys tennis program next year, but Horton may consider continuing his own tennis career at Bridgewater State University, where he plans to study cybersecurity. If a walk-on opportunity materializes in basketball or tennis, he will have a decision to weigh against academic rigors.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Apponequet boys tennis opens 2025 playoffs by beating Hanover
