By: Ken Weingartner
The South Brunswick High boys’ tennis team accomplished two things in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV team tournament that it had never done in coach Nancy McDonald’s tenure win a first-round match and play against the top-ranked squad in the state.
On Saturday, after two postponements, the ninth-seeded Vikings knocked off eighth-seeded Hunterdon Central, 5-0, by winning each flight in straight sets. Their reward was a visit to Marlboro to meet the No. 1-ranked team in New Jersey. South Brunswick lost the match, 5-0, Tuesday, but it was well worth the trip.
"We play East Brunswick, which is ranked eighth in the state, but it’s very rare you get to see the No. 1 team," said McDonald, who is in her fourth season at the helm. "You want to play these teams to see where you match up. The kids didn’t hang their heads, they played hard right to the end."
Marlboro improved to 19-1 with the win over South Brunswick, which dropped to 7-7. Marlboro’s singles lineup features two of the top players in the state, John Boym and Andrew Sharnov. Boym, who defeated Shangril Shah 6-0, 6-3, at first singles is bypassing the upcoming state singles tournament to play with a USTA international team.
South Brunswick’s Andrew Tsang, at third singles, and the first doubles team of Sean Hammer-Mashuk Billah both played strong matches particularly in the second sets against Marlboro.
"It takes a set to get used to the pace of the game when you play a team like Marlboro," McDonald said. "Then the kids lift their game a little bit, or the other team lets down a little, and they find themselves in the match. But they just couldn’t pull it off."
McDonald was very happy with her team’s performance in the first round against Hunterdon Central. Because of the wet weather at the end of last week, the match was played indoors Saturday. The Vikings had won 3-2 over HC in April. On Saturday, Steven Yu, at second singles, and Tsang reversed earlier losses to Hunterdon Central to help SB complete its 5-0 sweep. Also winning was the second doubles team of Paul Cooper-Shishir Sharma.
"That was a good win for us, especially giving up a Saturday afternoon," McDonald said. "We don’t usually play on Saturdays, and if we practice it’s in the morning. On Saturdays, the kids have other things on their minds.
"But my guys like to play indoors and everybody played outstanding. All they were talking about was wanting to play Marlboro (in the next round). They were really looking forward to that type of competition."
South Brunswick was scheduled Wednesday to play John F. Kennedy. The Vikings still have matches remaining against Piscataway, St. Joe’s, Hillsborough, and East Brunswick. They also have to complete a suspended match against Edison.
Over the weekend, the SB junior varsity team competed in the Greater Middlesex Conference JV tournament. The Vikings advanced all three singles players to the semifinals, and the first doubles team of freshmen Brian Binder-Shuang Yang won a championship."Everyone had a good day," McDonald said.

