HHS netmen kept out of county finals

Team continues regular season win streak

By: Rudy Brandl
   MARTINSVILLE — Hillsborough High ran into some fierce competition in last weekend’s Somerset County Tennis Championships at The Pingry School in Martinsville.
   Despite entering the tourney as a red-hot team on an eight-match winning streak, the Raiders weren’t able to make a major impact in the county field. While all five HHS positions survived with victories or byes into Saturday’s quarterfinal round, none could make their way to Sunday’s championships.
   Hillsborough finished sixth in the team standings, led by lone semifinalist Chris Plaskon, who was knocked out in a three-set duel with Bridgewater-Raritan rival Scott Van Dorn. Plaskon, the junior second singles player, leads the Raiders with a 7-4 record but has not been able to put away Van Dorn in two matches this spring.
   Saturday’s county semifinal was similar to the match between Plaskon and Van Dorn in the regular season opener when the Panthers blanked the Raiders. Plaskon won the first set again but was unable to close the deal. Van Dorn’s victory helped lead the Panthers to the county team title.
   Plaskon has been hampered by a knee injury that has kept him from completing the proper conditioning regimen with his teammates. Raider head coach Larry Johnson saw the effects of that again Saturday, when Plaskon was forced to play five grueling sets.
   "I knew it would be tough for him because he had to play two matches in one day," Johnson said. "We have to build up his lungs to go three sets."
   Plaskon started the day with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Pingry’s Austin Conti. After a short break, he took the first set from Van Dorn 6-3 but couldn’t continue the momentum. The second set was tight early but Van Dorn won the last three games and rolled in the deciding set for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 triumph.
   "It almost looked like that first match," HHS head coach Larry Johnson said. "He’ll play Van Dorn again and hopefully, he’ll beat him."
   Hillsborough’s other players were knocked out in the quarterfinal round. First singles player John Wu, who has been responded nicely after a slow start, was victimized by a tough draw. Top-ranked eventual champ George Laffey of Ridge eliminated Wu in a 6-1, 6-1 match. Laffey once defeated former HHS star Thomas Kinrade, who won the county first singles crown last spring.
   "John Wu played a tough kid, but he did better than before," Johnson said. "Laffey’s a tough kid, a very talented player."
   Wu opened the tourney with a pair of victories in Thursday’s preliminary round, where the one-set matches are played to 10. He knocked out Franklin’s Zack Beltran (10-3) and blanked Gill St. Bernards’ John Leighton (10-0) to move into Saturday’s quarters.
   Third singles player Mark Apostolos advanced to Saturday’s action with a 10-1 win over Stephen Hill of Bernards. In the quarters, Apostolos met Rutgers Prep’s Bobby Reiss and suffered a 6-3, 6-2 loss.
   Johnson knew it would be difficult for Wu and Apostolos to knock off the higher seeds in the singles brackets but he entertained high hopes for his doubles teams. The quarterfinal matches were tight but neither went in Hillsborough’s favor.
   "There’s a lot of parity in the doubles," Johnson said. "There’s not one team that’s dominant. Any of the top four doubles teams can win it. You have to give yourself a chance and I don’t think we did that. We made too many unforced errors."
   The HHS first doubles team of Ross Friedman and Tom Gross won the first set but dropped a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 match to Alex Alvarese and Dan Hertenstein of Watchung Hills. The Raider duo needed two points to force a tie-break in the deciding set but couldn’t get them.
   At second doubles, Hillsborough’s Jason Goldstein and Tim Le stormed to a 4-1 lead but wound up losing two tough sets, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4, to Watchung’s Jared Fand and Ian Schneiderman.
   "It’s a tough county," Johnson said. "I knew we’d have to play well in order to win it. We were a long shot this year. It wasn’t really a disappointment not getting anyone to the finals. They had to play outstanding tennis to do so. We didn’t play badly, but we didn’t play to our potential."
   SECOND SERVES — The Raiders continued their regular season roll with 5-0 victories over Franklin and Hunterdon Central last week. No HHS players dropped a set in either match.
   Wu was pushed to a 7-5 score in one set vs. Central but didn’t surrender more than two games in any other set. Plaskon won four straight 6-1 sets. Apostolos dropped a total of six games.
   In doubles action, the first tandem of Friedman and Gross dominated with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Franklin and a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Central. Goldstein took over for Chris Chung, who was in Atlanta on a school robotics trip, and joined Le in a pair of straight set victories at second doubles.
   Hillsborough (8-2) was slated to play at Immaculata and home vs. Somerville this week before traveling to Voorhees Friday and Cumberland Regional Saturday.