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Kilby Climbs to No. 3 Singles for the Warriors

Ben Kilby has used a mixture of grit, determination, and hustle to ascend to the No. 3 singles position for the Valley boys’ tennis team this spring. However, Ben has done much more than just climb the Warriors’ lineup—he’s also thrived in the No. 3 spot by winning his first eight matches en route to a current record of 11-5. Along the way, Ben has helped Valley post a mark of 9-8 as a team and secure a berth in the Class S State Championship.

“I’m self-taught and never took lessons or anything like that, but I play a lot, practice on weekends,” says Ben, a junior. “I’ll get together with [teammates Hal Jones and Nate Gagnon] to work on our games after school, on holidays, and in the offseason. All that hard work helped me progress more rapidly as I began the year around the 10th position on the team and kept moving up the ladder.”

Ben, an Essex native, prefers to simply return his opponent’s offerings instead of trying to rifle the ball past them. He also uses his speed to track down balls others wouldn’t reach on the court.

“I’m pretty quick, so I can get to the ball most times and hit it back. I don’t really try to knock it by people unless the shot is there. I can finish a point if it’s there, but my strategy is to keep the ball in play,” Ben says. “The more you put the ball in play, the better chance you have to score. During a point, I’ll use a conservative approach, try to minimize my mistakes, and let them make the errors.”

Ben first picked up a racquet during his middle school years and played with his sister Helen, a 2013 Valley graduate and Warriors’ tennis alum. He really started taking tennis seriously in his freshman year of high school and this spring marks Ben’s first season with Valley’s varsity squad.

“Ben played JV last year. This year, he is so much improved, it is hard to believe. He is not a lifelong trained player with beautiful form. Ben is a natural competitor with a game style unknown to most players,” says boys’ tennis Coach Bunny Logan. “He worked his way up our internal ladder from No. 9 to No. 8 to No. 7 and so on until he now plays No. 3 singles. The key factor in Ben’s game is that he never gives up on any point. He gets everything back and I mean everything. He frustrates his opponents until they finally make a mistake.”

Ben’s knack for fighting for every point by getting the ball over the net and forcing his opponents into mistakes has been noticed by people other than Coach Logan, who compliments Ben for pulling off a recent victory against one of the Shoreline Conference’s top squads.

“A couple of weeks ago, one of the head coaches on an opposing team said to me, ‘This kid on court for sure plays with a big heart,’” Coach Logan says. “Recently, we played Old Lyme, a perpetually strong team. Although many of our players had long sets with some tiebreakers, Ben Kilby was the only one with a win that day. His win/loss record is now [11-5]. He works hard and never misses practice. He has a lot of determination and an amazing will to win.”

Ben’s will to win extends well beyond his own personal success. He’s also motivated to help the Warriors claim as many victories as they can.

“Mainly, I want my team to do well. Since it’s really an individual sport, the best thing I can do to help my teammates is to win my matches,” Ben says. “I feel responsible to my teammates to play every point as hard as I can. If I don’t do that, then I feel like I’m letting my coach and my teammates down.”

When isn’t wearing down adversaries with his rope-a-dope style on the tennis court, Ben suits up for Valley boys’ soccer as a forward in the fall. He’s also a peer advocate and is on his way to becoming an eagle scout. When the current campaign is finished, Ben plans to keep working hard on his game in the offseason with the hope of moving up to the No. 2 singles position next year.

“I’d like to be the second singles player and have a lot of fun next year. I have to work on my backhand because that needs to improve and I like to change speeds, slice my backhand, mix things up, and, if you do that, it’s guaranteed to work,” he says. “Some of the things I really like about tennis are that it’s competitive and you play by yourself, so you can’t blame anyone for mistakes. It’s all on me if I mess up.”