2007 Westfield Boys Preview

When you have nine of your top ten players returning from a 23-3 team it would seem that your lineup should be fairly set but the combination of inclement weather and heated competition has made the preseason anything but sedate for veteran Westfield Tennis Coach George Kapner.

“This has easily been the most competitive year in terms of challenge matches in my entire career,” said Kapner.

The strong internal competition is indicative of the depth that developed early last season when first singles player Kevin Shallcross was lost for most of the rest of the year with a leg injury.

With Shallcross out, each singles player moved up one slot but the Blue Devils hardly missed a beat as they easily swept through the Watchung Conference and were dominant in winning their second straight Union County championship. The team scored 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.

.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.

Shallcross recovered from his injury to finish strong and defeated Krueger in the state tournament before losing in the third round. Shallcross won several competitive challenge matches and emerges again as Westfield’s top player.

“Kevin is mentally tougher, he is more experienced, and that experience has been achieved against higher competition than he had been used to before due to the fact that he is now playing and highly ranked in the 18's rather than the 16's,” said Kapner.

Netravali currently would once again play second singles although that is not finalized.

“The actual line-up has yet to be determined, but Ravi is definitely more confident than he was last year and is in better condition and also playing at a higher level than he was last year,” added Kapner.

Sophomore James Chou, who won the second singles county title last year before missing the late portion of the season with an injury, is one of several candidates to lay third singles.

“James lost a challenge match early in the process but has come roaring back into consideration with some excellent results. He is two or three wins away from regaining his singles spot from last year. He, too, is more fit and mentally stronger than last year.”

said Kapner.

Pushing Chou will be junior Akis Evangelidis, sophomores Greg Luppescu and Dean Thompson and freshman Justin Snyder.

Usually a doubles player, Thompson moved up to win the county title at third singles.

Whoever does not make it to singles from that group s in the running for doubles along with seniors Jon Ramalho and Jack Trimble, juniors Melvin Diep, Evan Eisenberg, Matt Gralla and Jared Greene and freshman Graeme Stahl.

Eisenberg and Gralla rolled to the second doubles title last year while Trimble teamed with the graduated Lee Bernstein to win on first doubles. With so much equal talent, Kapner will have an embarrassment of riches in picking his doubles teams but not necessarily a pleasant task for the veteran coach.

“Depth is a both a gift and a curse. At this time of year, it is very difficult to watch challenge matches. At the end of the match, one of your athletes is exuberant and the other despondent. Once the season begins, however, knowing that an almost equally skilled player is ready to take your place should push the starters to maintain their focus every day,” said Kapner.

2007 Scotch Plains Boys Preview

In her second year coaching the Scotch Plains Boys Tennis team, Sandra Miller is hoping for more consistency than the 2006 season, a campaign which could have been 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 prestigious first singles championship but the rest of the season was far less successful as injuries took their toll on the young team which finished 11-10.

Leading a young but veteran team will be Junior Ryan Krueger who returns after becoming the first Raider player since Arjun Viswanathan in 1995 to win a county title. Coming in as the third seed, Krueger avenged an earlier season defeat by dispatching second seeded David Richards of Summit in the semi finals and fourth seeded Ravi Netravali of Westfield in the finals.

Krueger also produced a sterling19-4 mark against challenging opposition and advanced to the second round of the state individual tournament. Krueger, who lost to Kevin Shallcross of Westfield in the second singles finals as a freshman, is not resting on his laurels.

“I have been working on my service and net game over the past months. Improving in these areas are vital for high school tennis success,” said Krueger a nationally ranked player.

“There is good competition this year in counties. Defending my title is a goal for myself and is a high priority.”

“Ryan has worked hard in the off season, playing in many tournaments and looks very sharp,” said Miller.

Unlike a year ago when Krueger and fellow sophomore Scott Leyden were the only returning starters, Miller’s starts the season with experience at most positions.

Leyden begins his second season playing second singles after making a significant jump from second doubles. Often overmatched last year, Miller is hoping his experiences will help make him better this year.

“I am hoping that Scott will be ready for the challenge of second singles. He has played some very good tennis so far,” said Miller.

Currently every other position is unsettled with challenge matches deciding the lineup.

Junior Mike DeVizio, an All County soccer player last fall, used his speed and athleticism to combine with fellow junior Ted Rosenblatt to finish fourth in the county at first doubles and Miller expects the duo to excel again whether or not they play together.

Miller is counting on vastly improved senior co-captains Mike Cejovic and Chris Thompson to likely man second doubles. Sophomore Eric Heinz and freshman Dan Nizri are also contending for open spots.

With more players than openings Miller is hoping that a Junior Varsity team will be approved.

“If we have a JV team in place I think our future looks very good for

.SPFHS tennis. .There are several freshmen and sophomores who have talent and just need more playing time,” says Miller.

2007 Cranford Boys Tennis Preview

By all accounts Bill Prisco’s first year as Cranford High School Tennis Coach in 2006,

was a smashing success but for his second go round he is preaching caution and warns that it is not realistic to expect the 2007 Cougars to approach last season’s exploits.

“Last year was a great start. for me and the team but the reality of high school tennis

is it.changes every couple of years, “says Prisco?

“We lost our top four players from a year ago so naturally this is a rebuilding year.”

The Cougars also make their debut in the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) after playing in the Watchung Conference.

“The MVC. is a much tougher tennis conference than the Watchung. There is a big drop off after the top two teams but in the Mountain Valley there are five strong teams that we play twice each,” said Prisco,

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

for the three singles slots. But Justin Grand, Bogden Lysikov and Steve Milwicz (14-4 on third singles) as well as first doubles player Tom Gessner have all graduated leaving Senior Jesse Hynes as the leader of this year’s team. Hynes teamed with Gessner to dominate on first doubles compiling a 12-4 mark.

“Jesse is a talented and extremely competitive athlete but going from first doubles to

first singles is a big jump for anybody and Jesse was wrestling all winter,” said Prisco.

Hynes was one of the Cougar’s top wrestlers this past winter, compiling a 18-5 record and finished second in the districts at 119. But Prisco realizes that Hynes may take some time to reacquire his tennis skills.

The other returnees Junior Craig Palmisano and Sophomore Alec Compagna did a solid job in their first year together at second doubles and figure to either move up to play second and third singles this year. Their order will be determined by several preseason challenge matches

“Our returning players will have to carry the load and hopefully the leadership,” said Prisco.

.Juniors James Casale, Cris Sheridan and Timur Turdubaer and freshman Dereck

Decagna figure to comprise the two doubles spots with only Turdubaer having any varsity experience.

“After evaluating the talent we have this year, I would honestly say we could be 500. if we play well,” said Prisco.

That would be a big drop from last season’s 16-6 mark when the Cougars saved their best tennis for the end of the spring, winning 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.

Included among their 16 wins was 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.

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