Lynnfield trio reflects on undefeated Prep tennis season

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

DANVERS — The St. John’s Prep boys tennis team, which features three starters from Lynnfield, won the Division 1 state title this spring.

On June 15, the Eagles defeated Concord-Carlisle, 4-1, at MIT in Cambridge to win their first state championship since 2001.

St. John’s finished the year undefeated going a perfect 22-0.

It was the fifth Division 1 crown for head coach Mark Metropolis who has been coaching the team for 34 years

The former Peabody High teacher has won 500 matches and won 30 Catholic Conference titles in his tenure.

 

The three Eagles from Lynnfield are the Prokopis twins, Jack and Luke and Mark McDuffee. The twins are juniors while McDuffee is a senior.

Jack played as second singles while Luke was at first doubles with his partner Boris Kouzminov. McDuffee, meanwhile, played at second doubles with Alex Melville.

“Mark is a very consistent player,” said Metropolis, about the Providence College bound player. “He is also fast and solid.”

Jack also had positive things to say about his older teammate.

“He is so reliable and was a big part of our success,” he stated. “He and Alex lost only one match this year. He is also a great guy and I will miss him a lot.”

McDuffee and Melville went 19-1 this year as McDuffee made the Catholic Conference All-Star team for the third time in his career.

Jack went 20-2 and made the Catholic Conference All-Star team for the third time in his career.

“He has been a two-year captain and he is a great all-around player,” said Metropolis. “In the state final, he beat a guy (Ben Ostrosky) that beat him earlier this year.”

What made it mean even more is that his win at second singles officially clinched the match against Concord-Carlisle.

“I knew before I hit that final shot that this was for the title,” recalled Jack. “It was a special feeling.”

Luke is also a three-time Catholic Conference All-Star as he went 21-1 this season with Kouzminov.

“Luke is the best doubles player in the state,” stated Metropolis. “He has a big serve and great hands at the net.”

Jack felt that the key to the state championship was the bond the team developed.

“We are a super tight knit group, and that was the driving force,” he said. “Two years ago we reached the quarterfinals and last year, we lost in the semifinals. This year, we came in with a lot more experience.”

All of the players for the Eagles play year-round and they also play in a lot of tournaments to hone their skills.

The Prokopis twins followed the footsteps of their older bother Mike, who graduated from St. John’s back in 2018 and then went on to play in college at Holy Cross.

“I met coach (Metropolis) way back in 2015,” pointed out Jack.

With the exception of McDuffee and Melville, all of the other starters will be back next season as the Eagles will try to win back-to-back Division 1 state titles.

“I feel a lot better about the team for next year than I did about us coming into this season,” admitted Jack.

One match that Jack has enjoyed playing during the regular season in his three years there is when the Eagles face Lynnfield High. They are the only team in those three years to beat the Pioneers in the regular season.

Lynnfield High has reached the Division 4 state title match the past three seasons.

“I am friends with a lot of those guys,” said Jack. “It is always fun to play them. For me it is like my house (St. John’s) against my home town team.”

Although Jack is happy with his decision to go St. John’s he does wonder what LHS would have done with him, his brother and McDuffee if they played for the Pioneers.