RAIDER ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High boys’ tennis team posted its second straight 5-0 victory in Monday’s Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals at Marlboro.
Sixth-ranked Hillsborough (14-5) will face second-seeded East Brunswick in Thursday’s sectional semifinals. If the Raiders prevail, they’ll most likely get a rematch with top-seeded power West Windsor Plainsboro South in the final.
All five Raiders prevailed in straight sets Monday. Steven Wu dumped Ilan Gamburg 6-1, 6-1 at first singles. Chris Plaskon picked up steam during his 6-4, 6-0 victory over Brian Rau at second singles. Stefan Apostolos completed the singles sweep with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Hitash Baggubati in the third position.
The doubles matches were more competitive. Ross Friedman and Tom Gross worked hard to close out a 6-1, 7-5 win in straight sets, while Sam Klein and Tim Le needed a tiebreak to finish off their foes in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) affair.
Hillsborough started its state tournament run with a 5-0 romp over Rancocas Valley last Thursday. Wu, Plaskon and Apostolos swept to victory without dropping a game. Friedman and Gross rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win, while Klein and Le posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
The HHS boys dropped a pair of 3-2 regular season matches vs. rivals earlier in the week. Wu and Plaskon prevailed in the loss to Bridgewater-Raritan. Wu posted an impressive 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback victory over Eric Hsu, while Plaskon beat Anup Bhulje by a 6-1, 6-3 score.
The pivotal match came at third singles, where B-R’s Andrew Weeden outlasted Apostolos 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. The Panthers swept the doubles matches in straight sets.
Wu and Plaskon were the HHS winners again in a heart-breaking loss to Pingry. Two of Pingry’s team points came in three-setters, one at third singles and the other at first doubles. Pingry won both deciding sets by 6-4 scores.
Laxmen clinch
state berth
The HHS boys reached the .500 mark with a 15-10 victory over St. Joseph’s of Metuchen last Friday night at Noonan Field. That also secured an automatic berth in the state playoffs.
Hillsborough held a comfortable 7-3 lead at the half but blew the game wide-open with a 5-1 spurt in the third period. The Raiders have scored 58 goals in their last four games.
Senior midfielder Chris Livelli led all scorers with four goals, while fellow middie Ryan Kloss added a hat trick. Jake Wilk, the team’s top scorer, had one goal and a career-high seven assists. Kyle Golombos and Luke Dawson tallied two goals apiece. Livelli also notched two assists.
Hillsborough’s offense continued its recent explosiveness in a 16-1 home victory over Pennington Prep earlier in the week. Sophomore attack Kyle Panaccione fired in four goals and dished out two assists to lead the way. Wilk, Eddie Marks, Matt Roberts, Livelli and Gary Politi added two goals apiece, while Dawson and Dale Nunn tallied one apiece.
The Raiders led 10-0 at the half and didn’t allow a goal until the fourth quarter.
Hillsborough (8-8) was scheduled to host Hun School and play at Princeton Day School this week in preparation for the state playoffs.
Boys prevail in
volleyball thriller
Hillsborough won a marathon third game to capture a 25-20, 18-25, 29-27 victory over West Windsor Plainsboro North last week.
Sean Kelly led the way at the net with 13 kills and three blocks, while Chris Fedroff added nine kills and three digs. Alex Miska posted seven kills and two digs. Sophomore setter Jared Himelfarb had a monster match with 28 assists.
The Raiders (13-3) were set to host Plainfield, Bridgewater-Raritan and South Brunswick this week.
Marino fired girls
in lacrosse romps
Senior home Katie Marino netted 11 goals over two games, leading the HHS girls’ lacrosse team to lopsided victories over Watchung Hills (12-6) and Montgomery (15-7) in regular season action last week.
Marino scored five when the Raiders defeated Watchung on the home turf at HHS. Dorian Gilmartin-Dzitko, Lindsey Watts and Kelsey Palmer each connected twice and Katie DeLuca added a goal for the winners.
Eight different Raiders scored in Thursday’s rout at Montgomery. Marino led the way with six, while younger sister Tina Marino and Palmer each scored twice. Sara DiClemente, Nikki Smartt, Watts, Gilmartin-Dzitko and DeLuca added single goals.
Lauren Griggs made 11 saves vs. Watchung and seven stops against Montgomery.
Hillsborough will play for a share of the Skyland Conference title Thursday night at home vs. Bridgewater-Raritan.