The West boys tennis team’s roller coaster season finally came to a stop, and many of the athletes won’t be around for next year’s ride.

The Blue Knights never won consecutive games during a 5-9 campaign, which concluded Friday, May 22, with a 5-4 victory over Spaulding.

On Thursday, May 21, the team was unable to overcome Timberlane on the road, falling 6-3 with a different rotation because several players had academic commitments.

Guillermo Bellas-Ramirez and Brett Ervin were the only two singles players to win at Timberlane; each notched 8- 2 outcomes, leaving West in need of a doubles sweep to pull out the match.

Tyler Laszewski paired up with Bellas-Ramirez to win the No. 1 doubles match, but the other doubles teams couldn’t follow suit.

Laszewski, one of four Bedford residents in West’s six-man rotation, dropped his No. 1 singles match.

When the team’s full arsenal of players was available, Bedford residents held the top spot and, in John Van Der Heyden, Thomas McInerny and Eric Higgins, the final three as well.

In total, 10 players on the 2009 roster live in Bedford, leaving head coach Joseph Bowe with a difficult task for next season, West’s first without Bedford athletes.

“I’ve already started recruiting for next year, which is what we need to do,” said Bowe. “It’ll definitely be a rebuilding year, but I’m not concerned with the numbers. We will have plenty of players, just many of them will be starting from the beginning.”

Of the 15 rostered athletes, 11 were seniors.

Bowe said his biggest task for next year is finding match experience for his players.

“They have to see what it is to compete,” he said. “We’ll spend a lot of time playing in different combinations. Slowly but surely, it’ll become natural what they’re doing.”

Despite his team’s sub-.500 record, Bowe was happy with the progression his players made.

“It’s an individual sport, so for me the biggest thing was focusing on improving at each spot,” said Bowe. “Every one of them got better.”