Freedom’s boys tennis team opened its season with a 6-0 victory over East Stroudsburg North on March 9 at Freedom.

While the Timberwolves forfeited most of their matches, and with little to no practice time for the Patriots due to adverse weather conditions last week, new Freedom head coach Zach Lebby was looking forward to challenge matches the following day.

“We’re gonna have a tough road ahead of us, developing players, but I have very high hopes for this team and believe that we can compete with anybody,” Coach Lebby said. “If we can just do a little bit better every day, even if it comes with some losses, just doing a little bit better every day is what I’m shooting for.”

Lebby plans to start Oscar Avila at No. 1 singles, Jonah Rodburg at No. 2 singles, and Logan Ritter at No. 3 singles.

Luke Eureyecko stepped in at No. 2 singles on March 9, winning one of Freedom’s two matches against East Stroudsburg North. Avila was the other Patriot winner at No. 1.

In the mix for doubles pairs are Henri Houle and Bhavya Patel, and Zane Silvius and Ian Jimenez.

The Patriots have a nice size roster at 17 players.

“Tennis is one of those sports that, more than most sports, it’s a lot of individual and mental battles,” said Lebby. “To see them come out here and play is inspirational, and I’m excited for the season to start.”

Lebby was a player at Moravian University for four years and has been a coach at Lehigh Country Club for the last five years.

“What really drew me into coaching was that I injured myself my last two seasons at Moravian, so I had to step into more of a coaching role on my team, and I felt like that was a little more rewarding, sometimes, than playing and competing, and a little more fun, especially coaching the next generation of tennis players,” Lebby said. “For me, the most rewarding thing is not only coaching these kids as competitors on the court, but also trying to make them into better men and trying to develop them and offer them any resource I can when it comes to their academics and anything to help them grow as a person.”