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.

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 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.”