Boys tennis team loses to Ewing, 4-1
By: Nicholas Schaefer
After marching through its last three opponents, the Lawrence High School boys tennis team lost Friday to conference rival Ewing by three, 4-1.
Facing an extremely talented and experienced Ewing (5-1) squad presented Lawrence (3-2) with a huge challenge, according to head coach Albert Paulsson.
“Ewing is a very solid all-around team,” said Paulsson. “They have a ton of experience and a few good new comers. Their singles players are really good, and their doubles players are equally as tough.”
Playing without their No. 1 singles player Alex Tervooren, who was out on a college visit, the Cardinals were left short-handed.
“We had to shuffle our lineup a little,” said Paulsson. “Our depth was challenged. Every loss is a tough loss. We will have to get back to practice and re-focus.”
Junior Sid Gulati played first singles and lost 6-2, 6-0.
Freshman Marc Nichols lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in second singles.
Competing in third singles was Andrew Marks. The sophomore, who moved from doubles to singles, lost 7-5, 6-2.
Seniors Henry Duke and Roger Tonk lost 6-4, 6-3 in first doubles.
The Cardinals’ lone point came from sophomores Jordan Kaplen and Eric Graber. After losing the first set, 6-2, they battled back to win the next two sets, 6-4 and 7-5.
“Jordan and Eric did a fine job of playing as a unit,” Paulsson said. “They were down early being behind one set but they played better as the match went on. They really came through at the end and came away victorious.”
Despite the loss, Paulsson views the match as a learning experience for his team.
“Even with the loss, we brought away some positives,” Paulsson added. “The team is coming along and we are gaining more experience as time goes on. We are playing very confident, aggressive tennis.”
However, not all is fine and dandy.
Paulsson said the team needs to rise to the occasion and take control in crucial moments.
“We need to step up and win the big points,” he said. “To win the big points, we need to be very aggressive and force our opponents to make great shots. We can’t beat ourselves with unforced errors.”
Up next for the Cardinals is Steinert on Monday.
NOTES: There will be two matches rescheduled due to Spring Break. The contest against West Windsor that was scheduled for Monday has been pushed back to May 9, and the match against Hopewell today (Thursday) has been changed to May 4.