Anacan, Zytko, Chaudhry earn state berths

By: Sean Moylan
   After graduating his entire singles lineup from a year ago and losing additional players this season to minor injuries and other such unforeseen events, it would appear on the surface that Larry Young has his Northern Burlington County Regional High School boys’ varsity tennis team at 9-3 by using "smoke and mirrors".
   However, when the smoke clears and one focuses on the Greyhounds’ true reflection in the mirror, one sees a very talented team.
   Jaren Anacan is playing so well that he recently qualified to play in the state tournament at first singles.
   Anacan’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Wayne Theoss set the stage for a 4-1 home victory over Palmyra on Monday.
   Of course, NBC’s first doubles tandem of Hassan Chaudhry and Doug Zytko has been nothing short of dominating. They also qualified for the states. Chaudhry and Zytko beat Palmyra’s Brian Pacek and Brandon Seaman 6-2, 6-3.
   At second singles NBC’s Ryan Quinn bear Eric Opczynski 6-2, 6-1 and Northern’s new second doubles team of Kevin Lawton and Brandon D’Amato did not lose one game versus Steve Costigal and Mack Gersh.
   Dave Tony, who recently was bumped up to third singles, was the only Greyhound who suffered a loss. But even he played well everything considered.
   "We played well," said Young.
   "If I had my regular lineup we would have won 5-0."
   Similar lineup shuffling led to NBC having to squeak out a 3-2 decision at Burlington City last Thursday.
   Anacan (first singes) beat Justin Vang fairly easily and at first doubles Chaudhry and Zytko only loss a trio of games on their way to a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Greg Richta and Nassir Uddin.
   However, it was D’Amato and Lawton’s 6-2, 6-3 victory over Stan Carter and Dan Hemple which put the win away for NBC.
   "It was an extremely windy day," added Young, whose club never found its rhythm in the match despite the win.
   NBC is in the playoffs and the season is quickly winding down. Anacan, Zytko and Chaudhry may be the stars, but guys like Tong, D’Amato, Quinn and Lawton are proving themselves to be great "team" players too. No smoke and mirrors here — just good tennis players.
   NBC started its scheduled match at Rancocas Valley last Wednesday (April 27) but it was later stopped due to rain. It will resume on May 10th (Tuesday). NBC was scheduled to have hosted Willingboro yesterday (Wednesday). NBC is scheduled to compete in the BCSL Tournament on Friday.
   FLORENCE



   With 10 wins in a row, the Florence Township Memorial High School coed varsity tennis squad just may be the hottest team in Burlington County.
   While they’re all highly skilled, hard work has been the secret to the Flashes’ players success.
   "The amount of work we do is three times more than any other team," said Florence Coach Ovi Dragos, who makes sure his club takes no team for granted.
   Florence started its great last week with an overwhelming 5-0 win at Palmyra last Wednesday (April 27). Florence’s Luis Gutierez completely shut down Wayne Theoss at first singles while Daniel Senni (second singles) dropped just one second set game to Palmyra’s Eric Opczynski. Jon Hand beat Mickey DeSouze (third singles) 6-0, 6-2.
   At first doubles Joe Molimock and Stuart Lopez lost only two games in their win over Brian Pacek and Brandon Seaman. Meanwhile Scott Rein and Eric Centofanti won a 6-0, 6-1 decision over Andy Baker and Kevin Harnett (second doubles).
   Gutierez (first singles), Senni (second singles) and Hand (third singles) were all straight sets victors in Florence’s 5-0 home win over Rancocas Valley last Thursday.
   Molimock and Lopez (first doubles) beat Tim Papp and Matt Roman (6-0, 6-2).
   "Joe (Molimock) and Stuart (Lopez) are killing everyone (in their matches)," noted Dragos.
   At second doubles Rein and Centofanti actually needed three sets and a tie-breaker to walk away with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) win.
   Gutierez played extremely well in a 6-0, 6-3 win over Andrew Pearlstein in Florence’s 5-0 home win over Cinnaminson last Friday. Senni (second singles) blanked Cinnaminson’s Nick Venatwich while Hand played hard and beat Huay Phan 6-3, 6-3 in a well-played third singles match. Of course, Florence’s powerhouse first doubles pair of Lopez and Molimock won in straight sets.
   However, Centofanti and Rein needed to go to a third set to beat Chris Wynkoop and Eric Wood 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
   The Flashes’ winning streak grew to 10 with a 5-0 win at Burlington Township on Monday.
   Hand’s 6-0, 6-1 win over Kevin Muholland was perhaps the most impressive match of the day.
   "He’s pretty confident," said Dragos of his third singles star.
   Gutierez (first singles) and Senni (second singles) surrendered only four games between them in their wins. Lopez and Molimock (first doubles) won 12 straight games to walk away victorious and Rein and Centofanti only lost one.
   Haddon Heights cancelled this past Tuesday’s scheduled match at Florence.
   Florence (10-2) was scheduled to have hosted Burlington City yesterday (Wednesday). However, the big rematch versus Delran that everyone has been waiting weeks for is scheduled for today (Thursday) at Delran. Win or lose it’s sure to be a classic.
   Hand (third singles) and Molimock and Lopez (first doubles) earned the top seeds at today’s (Friday) BCSL Open at Veteran’s Park (Moorestown is not sending all its players). Senni (second singles) is seeded second. Gutierez (first singles) is a fourth seed while Rein and Centofanti (second doubles) are seeded third overall.
   "We’re playing well. This is probably the peak of our playing," said Rein, who along with his teammates, will need to be at their very best this week.