Staff photo by TOM KING Hollis Brookline's David Cherkassky keeps his eye on the ball during the Cavaliers' 9-0 Divison II quarterfinal win Tuesday at Nashua Swim & Tennis.

NASHUA – So far, so good if you’re hoping a week from now for a Hollis Brookline-Souhegan High School boys tennis Division II final.

The third seeded Cavaliers (12-2) took step one toward that goal with a 9-0 cruising over No. 6 Kennett (9-4) on Tuesday at the indoor Nashua Swim and Tennis courts, one of the few boys state tourney matches played due to the damp weather.

Next? Well, tennis fans have to hope unbeaten Souhegan takes care of business at home on Wednesday (Jasper Valley) against No. 8 Windham in their quarterfinal which was postponed Tuesday. Then both teams would have to win in Thursday’s semis, and the Cavaliers will host No. 7 St. Thomas of Dover, likely at Manchester West High School. The Saints knocked off second seed Plymouth 6-3.

That’s the only opponent they care about right now. It will be HB’s second straight semifinal appearance.

“We’re taking it match-by-match right now,” Cavs’ No. 1 singles player Nic Vahe said after he disposed of Kennett’s Eric Schander 8-0. “We’re looking pretty good so far.”

“They did very well like they did all season,” Cavs coach Jim McCann said. “We’re working hard with the guys at the lower part of the lineup, get them to play a little more confident. We’re seeing some results.

“That’s what separates Souhegan, Portsmouth and us from the rest, is depth. And it’s just a matter of who can leverage that depth the best.”

The Cavaliers were certainly deep on Tuesday, as the match was over quickly with a singles sweep. Darius Paradie topped Willie Alber 8-1 at No. 2; David Cherkassky handled Jack Thompson 8-5 at No. 3; Ben Zielinski took care of Alex Nemeth 8-1 at No. 4, and that bottom half also came through for the Cavs as Max Burns bested Wilder Byrne at 8-4 at No. 5 and Alex Anghol topped Jack Wheeler 8-6 at No. 6.

“We beat St. Thomas, and I would expect (the Cavaliers) to win,” Kennett coach Joe Murphy said. “I would expect you to see results similar to what you saw today. You want to see the guys come out and compete, and I certainly think (his players) did that.”

Vae is a Cavalier catalyst, 10-2 in singles. He teamed up with Cherkassky at No. 1 doubles for a thrilling 9-8 (7-5 tiebreaker) win over the Eagles top tandem of Alber and Thompson.

“Last year, he set the tone, and it filtered down through everybody,”McCann said. “And he’s doing it again this year as well.”

The Cavs’ second doubles team of Paradie/Anghol also won a close one (9-7) over Schander/Nemeth, and that HB duo has beaten Souhegan twice. The No. 3 doubles team of Zielinski/Burns had the easiest time, 8-2.

McCann isn’t worried about overconfidence, and in the Saints HB will be facing an opponent it hasn’t seen all season, just like Kennett.

“When you play the known players, you get a little bit nervous,” McCann said. “Here it’s an open book, play your match, see how well you do.

“I tell them everyone’s in the tournament for a reason, and you can’t look past everybody. You play your match. Anybody can beat you on any day.”

But that wasn’t happening on Tuesday. It’s on to the semis.

Newsletter