2006 Scotch Plains Girls Tennis Review

Second year Scotch Plains Fanwood Tennis Coach Sandra Miller does not consider herself any kind of clairvoyant, but her preseason prediction of a slow start with a strong finish perfectly handicapped her team’s season.

The Raiders bounced back from a 1-4 start to finish with a 10-7 mark as many of their young and inexperienced players continued to improve as the season transpired.

Seniors Kiara Thomas and Jaclyn (Jaci) were the only players to enter the season with significant varsity experience and although broken up from playing doubles they each had competitive seasons on second and third singles respectively.

Thomas finished 4-7 and Lopez was 6-7, but that far from tells the whole stories of their seasons. As the only two seniors on the team, Miller appreciated all the little extra attributes the pair brought to the team.

“They showed our team how to find food and eat before every match. They attended almost all of our matches and Jaci ordered the best tennis uniform the Scotch Plains
Fanwood girls tennis team has ever worn,” said Miller, who added:

“Kiara and Jaci also made sure that the end of the season tradition of toilet papering of my house was accomplished, despite many projects, papers and assorted school work.
They all left their signatures and many thank yous for a great tennis
season on my driveway with chalk.”

“Playing tennis here the last four years was very enjoyable,” said Lopez.
“I think that all our talented young players will make this team very tough the next few years.”

The Raiders ended the season with a night victory over Kearny under the lights at
Kramer Manor tennis courts on October 30th. Six of their seven losses were to teams that spent some or all of the season among the state’s top twenty, including two to arch rival Westfield.

“We started the season with some very tough matches,” said Miller.

“For some reason the start of the season was not smooth, however, by
our fifth match we were beginning to feel like a team and we were winning most of our late season matches.”

An influx of new players caused Miller to repeatedly change her lineup. Junior Kathleen Yan emerged from playing few matches as a sophomore to rising to first singles and finishing with a 3-8 record.

“She took her lumps this year. Moving up to first singles isn’t easy even if you played second singles a year ago but Kathy learned many things this year that should help her next season,” said Miller.

Sophomore Sahrula Kubie and Freshman Alex Szczuka were the regulars duo at first doubles and posted a 5-5 record, while Juniors Courtney Bifani and Rachel Kreyer at second doubles compiled a 6-3 record.

“I hope to see Courtney and Rachel improve over the next months and come to
Varsity tennis with another winning attitude,” said Miller.

In a late season match at Cranford, Szczuka showed her potential with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at third singles and Miller expects her and Kubie to take over the second and third singles slots next season.

Junior Maya Robinson. Sophomore Emily Katz and Freshman Neha Pannuri also filled in successfully wherever needed... Robinson was undefeated in four singles matches. and Katz and Pannuri won all three of their singles matches.

While enthusiastic about the future, Miller realizes that her players must understand that proficiency at high school tennis is a full year endeavor.

“I have suggested that those who are serious about improving their
tennis game, should play in USTA tournaments through out the year,” said Miller.

2006 Scotch Plains Girls Tennis Preview

In only her second year as Scotch Plains Fanwood girls’ tennis coach, Sandra Miller
realizes she faces an uphill climb to bring her program back to prominence, but Miller is enthusiastic that the team is headed in the right direction.

With only two players from the 2005 starting lineup that finished 10-7-1,
the Raiders opened up with losses to Montville and Roselle Park but have bounced back to take two out of three, losing only to Westfield, the state’s sixth ranked team.

“We are starting to show some progress, but we have a long way to go,” said Miller.

“This year is a building year .I will be looking to our experienced players to help the younger ones who can add depth to our team.”

The biggest graduation loss was Carly Heinz, who played first singles the past two seasons

“Carly is a big loss, Her game level was above all of those on our team,” said Miller.

“She was our only Varsity player who played USTA tournaments year round, which helped her to stay match tough for our high school matches,” added Miller.

After successfully playing doubles the past two years, the team’s two returning starters, senior co-captains Kiara Thomas and Jaci Lopez have moved to the unfamiliar territory of second and third singles respectively and have encountered the same growing pains as much of the team.

“Jaci and Kiara are missing each other this year. They are relieved to be playing side by side for their matches. They both encourage each other to play their best,” said Miller.

In her straight set loss to Roselle Park, Miller opined “Jaci ran out of steam. Maybe she was looking for her partner.”

Thomas also lost that day in straight sets but Miller was encouraged how much her play improved in the second set, calling a “very positive sign”.

Miller’s top player, Junior Kathleen Yan, vaulted past Thomas and Lopez to gain the first singles slot, even though she had limited varsity experience as a sophomore last year.

“She is a sure and steady player who has had to learn about match play this year. She is learning to add power to her consistent game,” noted Miller.

The coach is enthusiastic about talented freshman Alexandra Szczuka, who is playing first doubles with sophomore Sahrula Kubie.

“Alex is showing all of us what hitting an angle really means,” said Miller.

“Both Sahrula and Alex are learning the art of doubles and should make a great team soon and for sure in the next year or two.”

Juniors Rachel Kreyer and Courtney Bifani have played most of the matches at second doubles, where freshman Neha Pannuri and Junior Maya Robinson have also shared time.

”Neha has the tenacity to win matches, and with some experience should
be a competitive tennis player in the next few years,” said Miller.

Before becoming head coach Miller coached the Junior Varsity for three years, Miller a certified Teaching Pro and life long player, has helped develop many of the current players on the varsity and also coached the Boy's team last spring.

Janice White, who teaches tennis during the summer, has taken over as Junior Varsity coach.

The Raiders will be competing today and tomorrow in the Union County Tournament.

“This will be a great chance for our girls to gain big match experience,” said Miller.

2006 Cranford Boys Tennis Review

The 2006 Cranford Boys Tennis Team and first year Coach, Bill Prisco could not have been happy to see the season conclude. The Cougars were playing their best tennis at the end of the spring, having won ten of their last twelve matches, including a satisfying 4-1 victory over rival Scotch Plains Fanwood. That triumph avenged an earlier season loss to the Raiders by the same score and underscored the Cougars’ relentless improvement.

Overall Cranford finished 16-6, which also included a 3-2 victory over Nutley in the opening round of the state tournament. The Cougars’ season ended with a 5-0 loss to the state’s number one team, Millburn in the second round but that could not nullify the teams’ strong finish.

“We turned our program around in the second half of the season. You could see that the team was playing with a lot more confidence. They started to believe in themselves,” said Prisco.

“Another bright spot was winning a round in the state tournament. We showed we could handle the pressure of the state tournament. No team was going to beat Millburn this season.”

“The Union County Tournament was a very good experience for the entire

team because they got a good opportunity to see some very

good tennis players. It gives them .something to work towards.

In his first season, Prisco felt fortunate to be able to have an experienced group of seniors

for the three singles slots.

Justin Grand faced the opposition’s top player on first singles but always came through with a competitive effort according to Prisco. Bogden Lysikov held down second singles and won many key matches.

Senior Steve Milwicz was one of the top third singles players in the county, posting a 15-4 mark and finishing fourth in the county tournament. Milwicz’ older brother Matt, a 2002 graduate played varsity tennis for Rutgers.

Junior Jesse Hynes and Senior Tom Gessner were dominant on first doubles compiling a 12-4 mark. Sophomore Craig Palmisano and Freshman Alec Compagna did a solid job in their first year together at second doubles and figure to either move up to first doubles or play singles next year..

“The most important part of the tennis season is those next nine months. I hope that the boys will work hard in the off-season to try and raise their level. Of play,” said Prisco.

With heavy graduation losses, Prisco knows that 2007 will be a challenging year for the Cougars but he looks forward to rebuilding the squad.

“All the positions are open for the taking. next year ,” noted Prisco.

“The team is basically in a rebuilding mode and all the players are about the same in ability. except for Jesse Hynes who will probably play first singles

2006 Westfield Boys Tennis Review

f injuries have a way of truly testing young squads then the 2006 Westfield Boys Tennis Team can certainly feel that they had more than their share of challenges. Just three weeks into the season the team lost their top player, first singles player Kevin Shallcross for most of the rest of the season and to compound matters, later lost their talented third singles player freshman James Chou, who had moved up to second singles when Shallcross went down.

But due to outstanding depth and led by a stable of talented young players, the Blue Devils were able to withstand the losses and finished with a 23-3 record, the top mark at the tradition rich school since 1996. The Blue Devils easily swept through the Watchung Conference and were dominant in winning their second straight Union County championship.

Contested April 27-28 at the Donald Van Blake Courts in Plainfield, the Blue Devils piled up 96 out of 100 points to 72 for second place Summit to win their 26^th championship overall as they won four of the five flights.

“Initially, I assumed that no team could recover from the loss of its best player, but we never missed a beat.” noted Kapner.

With Shallcross out, each singles player moved up. Second singles Ravi Netravali took over Shallcross’ spot and upset the defending champion Kevin Chen of New Providence in the semi finals before losing in the finals to Ryan Krueger of Scotch Plains.

“Ravi’s win against Kevin Chen was one of the highlights of the season and virtually assured the county championship,” said Kapner.

”Beyond that, he qualified for the NJSIAA singles tournament, only the second time a second singles player in my tenure has done so.” Netravali won his first match in the state tournament before losing in the second round.

Shallcross returned late in the season and was able to make it to the round of 16 in the NJSIAA Singles tournament, the best result by a Westfield male tennis player in a decade but Kapner wished the season could have gone on longer.

“Kevin never quite regained the form he had prior to the injury. This never affected the team, but did have some effect on Kevin in the NJSIAA singles tournament,” said Kapner.

Chou defeated Val Mekhanic of New Providence 6-1, 6-3 to win at second singles. succeeding Shallcross as the second consecutive Blue Devil to win at second singles as a freshman.

At third singles, another freshman Dean Thompson, normally a first doubles player surprised top seeded John Anguione of Summit 7-6, 6-2 and both doubles teams also defended their championships.

“Dean moved flawlessly from doubles to singles and probably gained the most beneficial experience from the injury,” said Kapner.

Kapner was able to keep his second doubles team, Evan Eisenberg and Matt Gralla together and the top seeded duo cruised through three matches, without losing a set, including a 6-3,6-3 win over Alex Kramer and Dan Gledhill of Summit in the finals.

At first singles he had to do some shuffling, moving senior Lee Bernstein into the starting lineup. Bernstein had played first doubles a year ago but had not been among the top seven up until then. Bernstein teamed with Junior Jack Trimble at first doubles to win their second doubles titles, each with different partners last year.

“Lee played as if there had been no hiatus from last year,” said Kapner.

“All year I have said that there is very little difference between our fourth through tenth players and the season proved that,” added Kapner.

Later in the season Thompson and Trimble were re-united and advanced to the quarter-finals of the NJSIAA doubles tournament, the best result by a Westfield doubles team since the inception of that tournament

Two of the three Westfield losses came against the state’s top team, Millburn. The other loss was the season’s only disappointment, a 3-2 loss to the eventual Group IV champion, Bridgewater

“Despite the disappointment of losing the sectional final, virtually every member of the varsity now has had a successful experience playing in important matches which only speaks to the potential of this group over the next few years,” said Kapner.

When Chou was later sidelined with a severe case of tennis elbow and with Shallcross still out of the lineup it resulted in Kapner elevating another talented freshman Greg Luppescu who got a chance to play numerous matches and gained valuable experience.

With nine of his top ten returning and another talented group of freshmen on the way, the 2007 Blue Devils appear fully capable of passing any new tests.

“We will be good but I have no idea what the lineup will be,” warned Kapner.

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2006 Scotch Plains Boys Tennis Review

For the 2006 Scotch Plains Fanwood Boys Tennis Team the season could be divided into two very unequal parts. The two days of the Union County Tournament provided the team with most of its highlights including a fourth place finish and the first singles champion but the rest of the season was far less successful as injuries took their toll on the young team which finished 10-10.

Sophomore Ryan Krueger took over the first singles spot from his graduated brother Jason and quickly stamped himself as a formidable replacement. Krueger would wind up 19-4 against challenging opposition and advanced to the second round of the State Individual Tournament before losing to Kevin Shallcross of Westfield.

“After placing 2nd place as a freshman, I realized that the competition would be even greater this year. I was working really hard all summer and through the winter playing tennis 5-7 days a week having my trainer in between lessons with my coach and practicing with my father,” said Krueger.

Like the team, Krueger saved his best tennis for the Union County Tournament.

Coming in as the third seed, Krueger avenged an earlier season defeat by dispatching second seeded David Richards of Summit in the semi finals that morning and fourth seeded Ravi Netravali of Westfield in the finals.

Krueger became the first Raider player since Arjun Viswanathan in 1995 to win the title. The only other Raider champion was Jeff Miller, a three time champion between 1969-71.

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Krueger, who lost to Shallcross in the second singles finals last year, credited his sterling performances to eliminating mistakes in his game and showing more patience.

“My goal against both players was to keep the ball in play as long as possible and not make unforced errors,” said Krueger.

“Ryan played some of his best tennis at the Union Counties, I think perhaps having three weeks of match play before the counties helped Ryan become match tough. He seemed to have the mental edge while playing at the Counties this year,” said Miller.

Krueger added another victory over Richards in the state tournament in addition to regular season victories against top players Chris Wu of Bridgewater and Kevin Chen of New Providence, Krueger’s predecessor as first singles champion.

“I played some really tough matches this year and succeeded in many of them,” said Krueger.

“Overall, I am very pleased with my performance this season and I improved tremendously.”

Krueger and fellow sophomore Scott Leyden were the only returning starters, which made first year coach Sandra Miller’s job more challenging.

Injuries to Leyden and first doubles player Mike DeVizio forced Miller to change the lineup, which weakened the team.

Missing the two players hampered the Raiders in an opening loss to Voorhees.

Seniors Ron Stein and Dave Ginsberg provided consistent play at second doubles and were great team leaders according to Miller.

“They never gave up on a point and always found a way to get another ball back over

the net,” said Miller said of the duo that battled to fourth place in the Union County Tournament.

DeVizio, an exceptional soccer talent, used his speed and athleticism to combine with another sophomore Ted Rosenblatt to finish fourth in the county at first doubles. The duo, Krueger and Leyden form a solid nucleus for the next two years.

“We had a very good season this year, and with a young team, we have only to go up from here,” said Miller.

2006 Scotch Plains Boys Tennis Review

For the 2006 Scotch Plains Fanwood Boys Tennis Team the season could be divided into two very unequal parts. The two days of the Union County Tournament provided the team with most of its highlights including a fourth place finish and the first singles champion but the rest of the season was far less successful as injuries took their toll on the young team which finished 10-10.

Sophomore Ryan Krueger took over the first singles spot from his graduated brother Jason and quickly stamped himself as a formidable replacement. Krueger would wind up 19-4 against challenging opposition and advanced to the second round of the State Individual Tournament before losing to Kevin Shallcross of Westfield.

“After placing 2nd place as a freshman, I realized that the competition would be even greater this year. I was working really hard all summer and through the winter playing tennis 5-7 days a week having my trainer in between lessons with my coach and practicing with my father,” said Krueger.

Like the team, Krueger saved his best tennis for the Union County Tournament.
Coming in as the third seed, Krueger avenged an earlier season defeat by dispatching second seeded David Richards of Summit in the semi finals that morning and fourth seeded Ravi Netravali of Westfield in the finals.

Krueger became the first Raider player since Arjun Viswanathan in 1995 to win the title. The only other Raider champion was Jeff Miller, a three time champion between 1969-71.
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Krueger, who lost to Shallcross in the second singles finals last year, credited his sterling performances to eliminating mistakes in his game and showing more patience.

“My goal against both players was to keep the ball in play as long as possible and not make unforced errors,” said Krueger.

“Ryan played some of his best tennis at the Union Counties, I think perhaps having three weeks of match play before the counties helped Ryan become match tough. He seemed to have the mental edge while playing at the Counties this year,” said Miller.

Krueger added another victory over Richards in the state tournament in addition to regular season victories against top players Chris Wu of Bridgewater and Kevin Chen of New Providence, Krueger’s predecessor as first singles champion.

“I played some really tough matches this year and succeeded in many of them,” said Krueger.

“Overall, I am very pleased with my performance this season and I improved tremendously.”

Krueger and fellow sophomore Scott Leyden were the only returning starters, which made first year coach Sandra Miller’s job more challenging.

Injuries to Leyden and first doubles player Mike DeVizio forced Miller to change the lineup, which weakened the team.

Missing the two players hampered the Raiders in an opening loss to Voorhees.

Seniors Ron Stein and Dave Ginsberg provided consistent play at second doubles and were great team leaders according to Miller.

“They never gave up on a point and always found a way to get another ball back over
the net,” said Miller said of the duo that battled to fourth place in the Union County Tournament.

DeVizio, an exceptional soccer talent, used his speed and athleticism to combine with another sophomore Ted Rosenblatt to finish fourth in the county at first doubles. The duo, Krueger and Leyden form a solid nucleus for the next two years.

“We had a very good season this year, and with a young team, we have only to go up from here,” said Miller.

2006 Boys Union County Tennis

The week did not get off to a rousing start for veteran Westfield Tennis Coach George Kapner when he found out that his number one player, Sophomore Kevin Shallcross had broken his toe in a non tennis related incident. For almost any other team it would have time to panic, but Kapner thought his squad was deep and balanced enough to withstand

the setback.

The Blue Devils more than vindicated their coach’s confidence with a dominating performance to easily defend their team title in the Union County Tennis championships, contested Thursday and Friday at the Donald Van Blake Courts in Plainfield. The Blue Devils piled up 96 out of 100 points to 72 for second place Summit to win their 26^th championship.

Only a victory by Sophomore Ryan Krueger of Scotch Plains Fanwood at first singles prevented a clean sweep of all five flights by the youthful Blue Devils, who featured two freshmen, three sophomores and only one senior.

“It shows the depth we have to be able to withstand the loss of Kevin and win the way we did,” said Kapner, who won his ninth county tennis title and 25^th overall county title.

“When I heard the news, I was upset for Kevin but I thought the team was deep enough to win. This was just an incredible effort by our entire team”

“I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to play but the team winning helps make things a little easier,” said Shallcross, who expects to be back in two weeks.

“I knew the guys would come through.”

With Shallcross out, each singles player moved up. Second singles Ravi Netravali took over Shallcross’ spot and upset the defending champion Kevin Chen of New Providence in the semi finals before losing in the finals to Krueger.

After a tense three set semi final match, the usual third singles James Chou won his final match easily over Val Mekhanic of New Providence 6-1, 6-3 at second singles...Chou succeeds Shallcross as the second consecutive Blue Devil to win at second singles as a freshman.

At third singles, another freshman Dean Thompson, normally a first doubles player surprised top seeded John Anguione of Summit 7-6, 6-2 in a rousing match that was the final contest to end.

This years’ tournament was a far cry from a year ago when the team title came down to the final second doubles match between Westfield and Summit but like they did in 2005 the Blue Devils swept the doubles crowns.

Junior Jack Trimble, a member of the clinching doubles team along with the graduated Andrew Levy had played the entire season at first doubles with Thompson. With Shallcross hurt, he teamed with senior Lee Bernstein, who had played first doubles a year ago but has not always been among the top seven this year. Bernstein teamed with Brian Kender to win the first doubles title last year.

Since the two had not played doubles together until earlier in the week, their performance was extra impressive. Their easy straight sets 6-3, 6-2 victory over Zach Goff and Mike Shea of Summit, clinched the team title and was a testament to quick acclimation.

“Doubles is all about communication, so we tried to get as familiar as we could playing together in practice this week,” said the 6' 7 Trimble.

Kapner was able to keep his second doubles team, Evan Eisenberg and Matt Gralla together and the top seeded duo cruised through three matches, without losing a set, including a 6-3,6-3 win over Alex Kramer and Dan Gledhill of Summit in the finals.

“All year I have said that there is very little difference between our fourth through tenth players and this tournament proved that,” added Kapner.

“Scoring 96 points out of 100 under any circumstances is pretty special. Needless to say, I am very pleased.”

Ryan Krueger wins 2006 Union County Singles title

In a first singles final that would have been incomprehensible just five days earlier, Ryan Krueger of Scotch Plains Fanwood completed a remarkable two days of tennis by routing fellow sophomore Ravi Netravali of Westfield 6-3,6-3 Friday in the Union County tennis finals last Friday at Donald Van Blake Courts in Plainfield.

Coming in as the third seed, Krueger avenged an earlier season defeat by dispatching second seeded David Richards of Summit in the semi finals that morning and fourth seeded Netravali shocked top seed and defending champion Kevin Chen of New Providence 6-2, 6-4. Normally the Blue Devils’ second singles player, Netravali was pressed into the top spot when Westfield first singles Kevin Shallcross broke his toe in a non tennis accident last Sunday.

Krueger becomes the first Raider player since Arjun Viswanathan in 1995 to win the Esposito trophy, named after the former Scotch Plains Fanwood coach and teacher. The only other Raider champion was Jeff Miller, a three time champion between 1967-9.

Krueger, who lost to Shallcross in the second singles finals last year, credited his sterling performances to eliminating mistakes in his game and showing more patience.

“My goal against both players was to keep the ball in play as long as possible and not make unforced errors,” said Krueger.

“Ryan has a great all around game and is in great condition so it was important for him to have long rallies and make his opponent beat him,” said Raiders’ coach Sandra Miller.

In the finals Krueger took command immediately by breaking Netravali in the first game and broke again in the fifth game for a 4-1 lead. Krueger was especially effective returning Netravali’s strong first serve and hitting an array of powerful deep shots.

“Ravi has a great first serve and it was important for me to make a decent return. That was my focus,” said Krueger

Serving for the set, Krueger lost his serve for the only time in the match but bounced back to break Netravali again and take the set.

“That was the key game,” said Krueger.

“I didn’t want to let him get back to 5-4. It was important to close him out there.”

In the second set, Krueger again took the early lead and continued attacking with his assortment of strokes. At 5-3, Krueger showed no jitters and impressively served out the match at love, finishing the match with a deep forehand that Netravali hit into the net.

“He played a great match and deserved to win” said Netravali.

“He never gave me a chance to get in the match.”

Veteran Westfield Coach George Kapner had nothing but praise for Netravali,

“I knew Ravi would step and play a great tournament for us. He was fantastic against Chen in the semi finals, beating the defending champion,” said Kapner,

“Sometimes a young player has trouble putting two great matches together. This is taking nothing away from Ryan who played a great tournament and is an impressive player,”

Helping Krueger’s cause was older brother Jason, who had played singles for the Raiders between 2002 and 2005. Now a freshman engineering student at Cornell the elder Krueger had driven the 225 miles from Ithaca late Thursday night to help assist his brother.

“Having Jason was a great help. He gave me a lot of great advice and helped me stay focused,” said Ryan Krueger.

And what pearls of wisdom did big brother offer?

“I just told Ryan to believe in your strokes and not try to win the points immediately. The longer the rally the better chance he would win the point,” said Jason Krueger.

“I am very proud of him,”

2006 Westfield Boys Preview

It took Westfield seven years to wrest the Union County Tennis title back from Summit in 2005 and with many of the key contributors returning, augmented by a talented freshman class, it appears like the Blue Devils are not in any hurry to relinquich it any time soon.

Even the normally cautious coach George Kapner admits with two sophomores and a freshman manning the singles positions the next few years look pretty bright .

The newcomers are so impressive that one of the heroes of the county tournament, second doubles player Jack Trimble, is no lock to make the starting lineup. Trimble combined with departed senior Andrew Levy to win the second doubles title in a three set thriller to provide the margin of victory in Westfield’s 81-76 triumph a year ago.

Trimble is competing with fellow junior Jon Ramalho and freshman Dean Thompson for the second doubles spot.

First singles player Alec Wasserman and first doubles player Brian Kender are the only other graduation losses but Kender’s partner on the championship first doubles team, senior Lee Bernstein will return to first doubles joined by another freshman Greg Luppescu.

The third impressive freshman James Chu will start the season at third singles. Sophomore Kevin Shallcross, the defending county champion at second singles moves up to first singles and fellow sophomore Ravi Netravali, the runner-up at third singles moves up to second singles.

“There is little difference between the fourth player down through the tenth player on this team, so I am taking my time finding the doubles teams that provide us with the best chance for success later in the season,” said Kapner.

Kapner has once again presented his squad with as tough a schedule as possible.

“I have always believed that you must play the best to be the best. In addition to our normal rigorous schedule, we have applied for the two most competitive regular season tournaments, Newark Academy and Delbarton in addition to our own one day tournament to be held on September 29th at the Westfield Tennis Club on North Chestnut. .”

The competition in the county continues to be Summit. The competition in the section is definitely Bridgewater, the team that we lost to in last year's sectional final. Our goals are to repeat as conference and county champions as well as to capture the sectional championship and to go on to win the first WHS group IV championship since the middle 1980's.”

2006 Scotch Plains Boys Preview

It seems perfectly appropriate that the Scotch Plains Fanwood Boys Tennis Team will be playing its home matches on the newly refurbished La Grande Park courts since almost everything about the team is new including the coach, Sandra Miller.

After replacing long time girls Girl’s Tennis mentor Sue Allen last fall and leading the girls to a 10-7 record, Miller takes over for Mark Cunnington and feels that she has circumvented the usual learning curve new coaches face.

“I am finding that dealing with the administrative end of coaching is much easier since I coached the girls in the fall,” said Miller.

“My comfort level is very high. I even know most of the bus drivers and now know most of the directions to the various schools. I can navigate our school web page and find the tennis schedule within seconds.” added Miller.

The one major similarity between the 2005 and 2006 Raider teams will be the surname of the first singles, Krueger, but even that has changed as sophomore Ryan Krueger replaces his older brother Jason, a four-year starter now at Cornell.

Ryan had a strong freshman season at second singles, finishing runner-up in the Union county tournament, the highest finish by a Raider player but he knows the competition at first singles will be much tougher.

“I expect to get high quality of play from most teams. These players

should be much better than players I competed with last year,” said Krueger.

“I suspect I will have to dig down even deeper in order to achieve my goal.”

After practicing most days last year with his older brother, Krueger has been hitting this spring with the only other experienced member from last year, fellow sophomore Scott Leyden. Krueger is hoping that he can help Leyden make a big move this year from second doubles to second singles.

Miller, the boys junior varsity coach last year at Watchung Hills scheduled her old school for a scrimmage and even though the Raiders were blanked 5-0, she saw many positives that came out of the contest.

“Watchung has two national ranked USTA juniors, the Wolski brothers.

Ryan played well but lost and. Scott went to 5-7 in the first set before losing,” said Miller.

“Ryan Krueger showed some very nice tennis in his match against Watchung Hills. He was able to stay in every point. In our second match against Livingston, he won easily 6-1, 6-0, and was able to show fortitude in closing out the match,” said Miller.

“I was impressed with his focus and his ability to close out the match. His game will only improve over the next few years”

Although just a sophomore, Krueger has willingly accepted the mantle as team leader and is optimistic that the team will improve as they become more experienced.

“Our team will struggle more and leadership is required in order to keep

everyone in line,” said Kruger.

“As for players on other teams, better players keep coming up and create new challenges the team.”

With such a young team, Miller has spent much of the pre season teaching.

“I am teaching the boys doubles and how to return with an aggressive forehand when possible, however, they are all very young,” said Miller.

Another sophomore Michael Dejovich figures to play third singles with two more sophomores, Michael De Vizio and Ted Rosenblatt making up the first doubles pairing and seniors Ron Stein and David Ginsberg follow them.

Miller’s major goal is to have every team member play with a consistent serve and to be able to return serves. With such modest objectives, Miller realizes this season might be difficult.

“I'll be happy with a few wins over some of our conference schools,” said Miller, who is still getting used to the differences between coaching boys and girls.

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“The biggest challenge in coaching the boys tennis is that they did not

know me. The girls knew me as a mom of one of their starting varsity

girls and the JV tennis coach,” said Miller.

“The girls knew to listen when I gave them a few tips to improve their game.

The boys can see that I can play when I join them on the courts and

they are learning that I know a thing or two about tennis. In general

the boys think they know everything about tennis and try to use power

to kill the ball, their opponent and the point.”