By Ned Sheehan
Hometown Weekly Intern
Over the last four years, Dover-Sherborn High School has boasted three athletes - all members of the class of 2018 - who have reached unprecedented heights, both on and off the tennis court. During their time at DS, Max Schuermann, Lucas Minas, and Jason Zataris led Raider tennis to a ridiculous 63-0 regular season record and made several deep playoff runs.
Schuermann, 18, the team’s No. 1 for singles, defeated Needham’s Kevin Chao to win the State Individual Championship in 2018, and was a finalist for that same championship in 2017.
Minas, the team’s No. 2, is also a formidable talent, with coach Jon Kirby claiming he’d be the lead dog on any other team in the state. “He’d be the first single on any other team in the state,” confirmed Kirby.
Zakaris, a doubles player, was the third pillar of this extremely talented trio.
The bond between these co-captains and friends extended far off the court. “It was an amazing group, and nobody was left out,” said Schuermann. “We were good friends on and off the court.”
Kirby agreed with Schuermann’s assessment. “Obviously, I’ll miss them as players,” said the coach. “But they’re also great guys, and I’ll miss them as people.”
While, of course, they will be missed, their leadership has left the team in a great position moving forward. To say the least, the Raiders are ready to face the challenges ahead.
“We have a lot of great players. We’re very deep,” said Kirby about his group returning in the fall.
Third single Dan Pomahac, and double Lucas Barnes, both rising sophomores, are expected to make a big impact, along with rising juniors and co-captains Chris Jerimiah, Dan Elman, and Jamie Hackmey.
“Nobody’s going to have a pity party for Dover-Sherborn,” said a humbled, but confident Kirby.
“We’re going to keep the streak alive.”
