Dexter tennis coach Robert Smothers says Andrew Boydston has been a “rock” this season for the Dreadnaughts, and the team’s No. 1 singles player has “rolled” to some great success during his final season on the Dexter tennis courts. But Boydston admits tennis wasn’t always on his athletic radar until his first serve at DHS.
“In all honesty, I didn’t love tennis until I got to high school, partially due to never playing competitively,” says Boydston. “I started playing when I was around 8 years old, participating in a couple summer camps and playing with my parents over the years, but nothing about the game really stood out to me.”
That all changed at 2200 N. Parker Road.
“Once I got to high school, playing competitively brought the adrenaline rush I’d been looking for,” he says. “It was exhilarating, and it tested my abilities in a way that I’d never experienced before. After each match, I loved (and still do love) looking at all the mistakes I made and all the things I did right, in order to figure out how to improve.”
Improving has been a big key to his success. While he doesn’t belong to a tennis club, he does take lessons with Smothers and spends plenty of time working on his game. “The overwhelming majority of my practice outside of the school season is spent with friends or by myself,” he says.
This has been a big year of transition for the Dexter senior. He spent the first three seasons at Dexter playing doubles so to find himself all alone on the court has taken some getting used to – especially considering all the success he had in doubles. The team of Boydston and Steven Merz (the team’s No. 2 singles player this year) has been a fixture at Dexter for the past three seasons. The duo helped the Dreadnaughts reach the State Finals last year with a dramatic comeback in Regionals.
“The biggest highlight of last year, and my doubles career in general, was the semifinals of our Regional tournament when we faced South Lyon East, who had beaten us previously in the regular season,” Boydston says. “With a slow start, we were down a set (1-6) very early on. Fighting back, we took the second set 6-3. In the third set, we had a similar start to the first, down 5-2. After fighting back multiple match points across several games, we swung the score back to even, 6-6. With the momentum of such a tremendous comeback in our favor, we won the third set tiebreak 7-4.”
And it was this match that gave Dexter 10 total points, the exact number needed to move on to the state tournament.
“Playing doubles last year was super fun because I got to play with the same partner I’d played with since freshman year,” Boydston says. “Given that last year was our second year at 1 doubles, we were both very confident in our abilities. Our chemistry was unmatched by most other teams, and so was our communication, allowing us to beat players who played tennis for significantly longer than us.”
Boydston wasn’t pleased with how he played at the state finals last season but has used that experience as motivation this year.
“I was quite disappointed in myself,” he said. “Despite my sour attitude, I learned a couple things from the experience. The most important thing is that nothing is free in tennis. Nothing is given to you. Although you may be faced with an opponent that you believe you are stronger than, it is vital to maintain complete focus on a match in order to win. Without this focus, you can quickly fall behind in a match that could be easily won.”
Playing singles has been a whole new ballgame for Boydston.
“Doubles is extremely fun because you get to share the experience with someone else,” he says. “Every big serve, killer forehand, and finishing volley, is immediately celebrated with another person. This aspect of doubles makes momentum a huge factor in a match. On the flip side, momentum in singles, although still very prevalent, can swing from one player to another much easier. A singles player doesn’t have another person to lean on when they’re hitting poorly, and they don’t have an external viewer that can give instant feedback on their playing mid-match. This means they must make all decisions and adjustments on their own.”
During the course of the season, Boydston has significantly improved on his ability to see himself from a third-person perspective throughout a match, allowing him to pinpoint what strategies he can implement in order to beat an opponent.
One of the many highlights this season for Boydston and the Dreadnaughts came recently in a very competitive match with a strong East Lansing team. Despite losing 5-3, the Dreads had some big wins from Cayden Capelli at 3 singles (7-6[7-1], 6-0), Gavin Heichel at 2 singles in a very tough battle (3-6, 7-6[7-5], 10-5), and Boydston at 1 singles (7-5, 6-4).
Dexter’s team goal this year is to return to the State Finals. They play on Thursday in the Division 2 Regional 7 hosted by Portage Central HS.
“We have a tough regional so it will definitely be difficult, but everyone on the team knows it’s possible,” Boydston says. “My first personal goal at the beginning of the season was getting the 1 singles position, and from there my main goal has been to improve my game little by little each day. It’s hard to see progress when it happens so gradually across the season, but I can confidently say my playing ability has significantly improved.”
And regardless of what happens on Thursday, this has been a special year for the Dreadnaughts.
“The best thing about our team is the bond we have in and out of practice,” Boydston says. “We have pool parties and team dinners quite often, which contributes to our ability to give each other good feedback at practice, and to hype each other up in matches. Our team breeds a culture of hard work and integrity. In the off season, players are constantly texting each other to organize times to play, or going out by themselves to hit against the wall.”
Andrew, 18, the son of JD and Jill Boydston, serves up a 3.98 unweighted / 4.2 weighted GPA in the classroom and is a member of National Honor Society, and Drumline/Band (two year percussion captain). He also plays varsity basketball and enjoys mountain biking, sailing, computer programming, CAD modeling and 3D printing.
He will be going to college to possibly study mechanical or biomedical engineering, but “I’m still not 100 percent set on that idea,” he says. “If I attend a smaller university I would definitely be interested in joining their varsity tennis team, or at a larger school I’d be interested in joining a club tennis team.”
