Cards roll in return to action

Boys tennis

By: Jim Green
   Lawrence High School boys tennis coach Pat Tarrant just was happy to get his team back on the court.
   The Cardinals, who Friday had their match with Hunterdon Central rained out midway through, had not completed a team match since losing to Princeton 5-0 April 25. Lawrence returned to action Monday, improving its overall record to 7-3 with a 4-1 win at Pennington.
   "It was good to get a match in," Tarrant said.
   Lawrence seemed to be shaking off some rust, as junior Aaron Naar (first singles), senior Josh Margolis (second singles) and the Lawrence first doubles team of seniors Chad Ham and Vishal Suvagiya all battled through three-set matches. Naar and Margolis prevailed, while Ham and Suvagiya — who last lost in three sets to Princeton’s county-champion first doubles team — suffered the Cardinals’ only loss.
   Margolis seemed to have particular difficulty finding his game less than a week after putting on a strong showing at the Mercer County Tournament. He dropped his first set against the Red Raiders’ Kei Imamura 6-1 before getting back on track and cruising through the last two sets 6-1, 6-0.
   "He (Margolis) just couldn’t get going in the first set," Tarrant said. "He just couldn’t get anything to stay in. But he settled himself down and played well the rest of the match."
   Margolis was coming off a trip to the quarterfinals of the county tournament. He defeated Hightstown’s Sonny Randhawa 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in the first round and lost a tough match to Hopewell Valley’s Matt McGranaghan 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the quarterfinals April 28 at Veterans Park.
   Tarrant felt Margolis was struggling with the windy conditions Monday, rather than suffering from rust.
   "He (Margolis) played well in the counties," Tarrant said. "And he was hitting the ball well against Hunterdon Central."
   Naar, who lost a difficult first-round match to West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Eugene Vaynberg 6-4, 6-3 in the county tournament, also seemed to be slightly off his game early against Pennington. Naar won the first set via a tiebreak before dropping the second 6-4. He bounced back, though, with a 6-2 victory in the third set, snapping a personal three-match losing streak.
   Junior third singles player Raj Kapoor seemed least affected by the layoff. Kapoor, who lost a hard-fought three-set match to Hightstown’s Ben Harms in the first round of the county tournament, cruised past Pennington’s Doug Nelson 6-0, 6-3.
   The Cardinals’ second doubles team of senior Arpan Bhattacharya and freshman Travis McGouhan also kept rolling. The team, which was forged out of necessity after both players’ partners left on vacation, reached the county quarterfinals last week with a straight-set win over Joe Valeri and Tim Kunert of Hamilton in the first round. They followed that impressive performance with a 7-5, 6-1 victory in Lawrence’s win over Pennington.
   Tarrant feels he finally has found a second doubles team he can stick with for the rest of the season.
   "They (Bhattacharya and McGouhan) have done a nice job," Tarrant said. "They improve every time they play. They’re doing some nice things. I’m pleased with their progress."
   Ham and Suvagiya, meanwhile, lost to Pennington’s toughest position Monday. The Red Raiders’ first doubles team of Philippe Chantecaille and Stu Pearsall, which reached the semifinals of the county tournament, topped Ham and Suvagiya 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
   It was the third straight loss for Ham and Suvagiya since they posted the Cardinals’ only individual win during a 4-1 loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro North on April 24.
   "The other team (Chantecaille and Pearsall) was a lot like them," Tarrant said of his first doubles team’s loss. "One guy hits a heavy ball like Chad, and the other guy stays on the baseline like Vishal. After the first set, they (Ham and Suvagiya) never got it together."
   The match against Hunterdon Central would have better prepared the Cardinals for the upcoming state tournament.
   "That was going to be a very tight match (against Hunterdon Central)," Tarrant said. "It was completely up for grabs. It was very tight all-around."
   Although the Cardinals failed to reach the semifinals of the county tournament in any of the five flights, Tarrant was satisfied with the performance of his squad.
   "We had some tough draws," he said. "I thought we played well. First doubles had their chances. Josh (Margolis) played well in both matches. I’m pleased with how they’ve been playing."
   Lawrence was scheduled to have a good test Wednesday. The Cardinals (6-2 in the Colonial Valley Conference) were set to play West Windsor-Plainsboro South (6-0 in the CVC) in a match with huge ramifications on the CVC Colonial Division race.
   The Cardinals now will turn their attention to the state tournament. Lawrence, the 10th seed in the Central Jersey Group III section, will visit seventh-seeded Ridge today.
   "It’s tough to say where they (the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association) will put us," Tarrant said before the pairings were released by the NJSIAA. "It would be nice to get the first round at home, and we’ll take it from there."