The Edison High School boys tennis team was handed a tough draw at last week’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, and the results proved rather disappointing for the 4-4 Eagles.
Above: Metuchen High School’s Teresa Vinci tries to secure the ball as Sayreville War Memorial High School’s Tina Lisa slides safely into second base during their April 22 game, which was won by Sayreville, 6-1. Left: Metuchen High School’s Amanda Hallas (l) and Sayreville’s Jackie Nunes look for the umpire’s call to determine if she is safe or out on the steal attempt. Nunes was called safe. “It’s tough to advance guys to the later rounds when you don’t have any players seeded,” Edison head coach Wesley Smith said. “We did have a couple of guys win some preliminary round matches, but we couldn’t advance anyone to the semis.”
Second singles player Abe Gulama won an exciting preliminaryround match against an opponent from Colonia High School. Gulama took a commanding 4-0 lead before losing two of the next three games to lead 5-2. Gulama eventually won the match 9-8 but was rewarded with a tough opponent from J.P. Stevens High School in the next round.
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff “Abe played really well in his first match,” Smith said. “It would have been great to see him pick up another win, but it wasn’t to be.”
With the team’s No. 3 singles player, Rajat Khare, out with a back injury, Yash Thaker stepped up from the junior varsity ranks to play in the GMC Tournament. Thaker won his preliminary-round match-up against a player from South River High School, 8-5. Like Gulama, Thaker exited after his preliminary-round victory.
“It was rough for Rajat to watch from the sidelines, because he would have most likely been a seeded player in the tournament,” Smith said. “He decided he’d rather get healthy and compete for the team. He’s all about the team, so he skipped the individual tournament in order to get better.”
Edison’s No. 1 doubles team of Asa Britt and Uzair Saleh cruised past a duo from Colonia in the preliminary round with an 8-0 win. Britt and Saleh nearly took the first set from the tournament’s No. 2 seed from South Brunswick High School. Britt and Saleh took the No. 2 seed to a tie-breaker, but lost 7-4. They ended up losing the match 7-6, 6-1.
“Asa and Uzair played an intense first set in the opening round,” Smith said. “Both doubles team couldn’t hold serve for something like 10 games in a row. We got off to a shaky start in the tie-breaker, and that proved to be the difference.”
The No. 2 doubles team of Angelo Musa and Steven Bromberg advanced to the second round of the tournament after posting a 6-2, 6-3 win over Piscataway. Musa and Bromberg had the tall order of competing against the No. 1 seed from J.P. Stevens in the next round. Despite losing the first set to Stevens 6- 0, Musa and Bromberg rallied to force a tie-breaker in the second set before losing, 7-2.
“I was pretty upset with their first set against Stevens,” Smith said. “They regrouped and put together a really nice second set. They had some double faults in the tie-breaker, which is always tough to overcome. They definitely had some chances to force a third set, but just came up a little short.”
Edison will resume regular-season play with four matches on this week’s schedule. After opening the week against the likes of South River and Bernards, the Eagles will travel to South Brunswick for a 3:45 p.m. match today. The team will finish the week when Hunterdon Central pays a visit to town on April 29.
“We’ve had our share of injuries this season,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to having everyone healthy again and seeing how we stack up against some tough teams this week. South Brunswick will be a tough test for us, and our two nonconference matches should tell us how we look as the postseason approaches.”