I t was again the year of the Mustangs in boys tennis. Dave Kretzmer’s Marlboro High School team was without peer in the Freehold Regional High School District (FRHSD) en route to an 18-3 season and the outright Shore Conference A North Division title.
The Mustangs reached the Shore Conference Tournament finals for the third time in four years, only to have state champion Holmdel High School standing in the way.
The highlight of the season came in the last week, when Marlboro pulled out backto back 3-2 wins over Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) to finish 12-0 in division play and win the title outright. Last year, Marlboro and CBA split their two matches and shared the title.
Marlboro’s domination on the courts said a lot about the team, because the district has some very good players and teams. Colts Neck High School, Freehold High School, Freehold Township High School and Manalapan High School made the postseason tournaments.
Marlboro’s singles trio of David Xie, Matt Cruz and Alex Raman was unmatched in the area, and those players head up the News Transcript’s 2014 All-FRHSD Boys Tennis Team. Freehold Township’s Blake Goldberg and Manalapan’s Konrad Slabinski join them.
The doubles teams are Marlboro’s Akhil Chakravarti and Abhirim Saripella and Vincent Chen and Brandon Lipnitsky.
Marlboro’s singles players were so strong that last year’s No. 1, Raman, ended up playing No. 3 this spring.
Through challenge matches, Xie, a senior, emerged as the Mustangs’ No. 1. He developed a two-handed backhand that gave him an additional weapon. His strength was his aggressiveness.
Cruz was No. 1 for the early part of the season. The lefty parlayed his serve and a steady baseline game into a winning formula. He came up with big wins in the CBA matches. A sophomore, he’s Marlboro’s future.
A key to Marlboro’s success was the way that Cruz and Raman accepted their roles and put the team first. Kretzmer told Raman that he would be a difference maker, and he proved to be correct.
In the second match with CBA, the teams were tied, 2-2, when Raman and his opponent, Sean Reilly, went to a third set. If Reilly won, the teams would have been co-champions again. Instead, the veteran and gamer that he is, Raman refocused and beat the Colts’ standout, 6-2, in the third and deciding set to clinch the division title.
As has been true throughout his career at Marlboro, Raman won matches with his consistency.
Goldberg, a senior, did not lose a match to anyone in the district, except Malboro’s Xie, and he took him to three sets in one on their matches. He was the only district player in the state individual tournament.
Slabinski, a freshman, showed a lot of promise, as he held his own playing at first singles in his first year.
If you were able to get through one of Marlboro’s singles players, you still had to get a point at doubles to win. The Mustangs were very formidable there once again.
Chakravarti and Saripella manned the first doubles spot for the Mustangs, and they used their aggressive net play to their advantage at this important position. Both are seniors, and they used their experience to gel as a team.
Chen and Lipnitsky grew as a team as they became more familiar with each other’s games. They won both their matches against CBA, helping make a difference in the title run. Both were good at putting away volleys at the net.