HHS netmen come through in clutch

Doubles teams fuel three straight comebacks

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   This year’s Hillsborough High boys’ tennis team sure has a flair for the dramatic.
   Last week’s string of three consecutive 3-2 victories over state-ranked opponents also proves the Raiders are a legitimate contender, a much better squad than the one that opened the season with two 5-0 losses to local rivals Montgomery and Bridgewater-Raritan.
   "I feel good for the kids," HHS head coach Larry Johnson said after Thursday’s 3-2 home victory over Watchung Hills. "They realize they’re better than Love-5. They just didn’t compete the way they should have in those first two matches. They regained their confidence and really competed this week. That’s what we need as a team."
   All three wins followed a familiar pattern – a second singles victory by Chris Plaskon and two nail-biting wins by the doubles teams. Johnson has always stressed the importance of doubles play and it paid off big-time in last week’s matches.
   While Thursday’s victory over a county and conference rival was nice, it wasn’t as thrilling as the 3½-hour marathon match that decided the previous day’s match at South Brunswick. The HHS second doubles team of Chris Chung and Tim Le prevailed in two tie-breaks to pull out a 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) thriller over Sandy Tumma and Vignesh Chandramouli.
   With all other matches long decided and the team result hanging in the balance, Chung and Le came through for the Raiders. They kept their poise and eventually pulled it out.
   "We just take one game at a time," Chung said. "We try to play consistent, solid tennis. We’re getting our confidence and chemistry together."
   "Those guys deserve a lot of credit," Johnson said. "They created their own drama, but they handled it well."
   Chung and Le were the last ones on the court again Thursday in a match-deciding situation. They came through again, overcoming a horrible start to win a 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 match over Watchung’s Garrett Seiger and Jason Scalera.
   "It feels really good," Le said. "Our confidence is 200 percent higher. It’s an amazing feeling."
   Plaskon gave the Raiders a quick 1-0 lead when he took the first five games against Thomas Wolski, who then retired. Plaskon opened the week with a pair of straight set triumphs and came out rolling against Wolski, a talented player.
   "I went out there and I was playing pretty solid," Plaskon said. "To go up 5-0 against a guy like that is always a good morale booster. I was playing my best tennis. He was feeling sick, but I was playing really well."
   The Raiders fell behind after the other two singles matches went Watchung’s way. Rohan Paktar topped John Wu by a 6-1, 6-1 score at first singles and Mike Finkelberg defeated Mark Apostolos 6-1, 6-2 at third singles.
   Hillsborough overcame similar circumstances at Ridge and South Brunswick on the previous two days, so Thursday’s challenge wasn’t anything new. Tom Gross and Ross Friedman, who pulled out the decisive match at Ridge, came from behind to tie Thursday’s battle vs. Watchung with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Jared Fand and Justin Homilda. Gross and Friedman also notched the tying victory at South Brunswick with a 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 triumph over Brian Binder and Shuang Yang.
   The Raiders (3-2) have had to fight for every victory, which makes them a battle-tested unit. All three of last week’s victims were ranked higher in the state polls.
   "These matches were really good for our confidence," Johnson said. "Winning these tight matches will help."
   Hillsborough was embarrassed by the shutout losses in the first week of the season. Although both results included some tight individual matches, the HHS boys weren’t happy.
   "Losing 5-0 was a wake-up call for us," Plaskon said. "Losing 5-0 never happened last year and we didn’t expect it to happen this year. It was a shock."
   "I don’t think we were prepared enough for those first two matches," Chung added. "We just got our act together mentally. It was a new week and we had to come back."
   The Raiders enjoyed a nice little break after the win streak and were set to return to the courts at St. Joseph of Metuchen Thursday before hosting North Hunterdon Friday.
   "We just beat a few state-ranked teams and it’s more of a statement," Plaskon said. "We want to get back to where we want to be. We still want to be a state power team."