Irmo High boys’ varsity tennis finds resurgence under DiMaggio
May 2, 2017
Trailing in their match at River Bluff High School 3-2 on March 21, Vihar Dilal knew he had to win his match to give Irmo a chance.
After dropping his first set, the number five singles player for the Yellow Jackets used his senior experience and fought back to win his match, knotting the score at 3-3. From there, it was up to Irmo’s number one doubles team of Sean Nguyen and Andy Reed.
“By this time, the crowd had grown quite a bit,” said Irmo head coach Mark DiMaggio, who is in his first season with the team. “After every point, the place was going crazy. It was a heck of an atmosphere.”
After splitting the first two sets, the match came down to a tiebreak where Irmo clinched the victory 10-8. The win improved the Yellow Jackets to 6-0 on the season, and proved to be the turning point of the year.
“That was really the match our guys looked at and said, ‘Okay, we could have something pretty special here,’” DiMaggio said.
And they did. Irmo ran the table in the regular season, finishing a perfect 15-0 and 12-0 in region play. The Yellow Jackets earned a one seed in the lower state portion of the Class AAAAA playoffs.
“The past few years we just haven’t been able to put guys in the right position to succeed,” said senior captain Greg Rast. “This season has been totally different under coach (DiMaggio). He has been able to plug guys in where they fit best and it has made a huge difference.”
The Yellow Jackets won their first round match over Ashley Ridge and take on West Ashley at home on Tuesday. Irmo hopes to make it back to the state championship, a place they have not been in eight years.
“It would mean so much to have the opportunity to play for a state championship,” Rast said. “I remember watching my brother play on that 2009 team that made it there. If we stick to our game plan, I think we’ve got a good chance to represent Irmo.”
Irmo High boys’ varsity tennis team plays in the quarter finals of the Class AAAAA state playoffs against Socastee High School on Friday, May 5th at Irmo.
See the Irmo High School Boy’s Tennis website here.
