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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