Tennis: Westfield tops J.P. Stevens for sectional title
The winner of the NJSIAA North 2 Group IV Tournament was decided by the winner of a second doubles match after top-seeded Westfield and No. 2 J.P. Stevens were tied 2-2 at Mountainside Racket Club on Monday. And Westfield came out on top, 3-2.
Westfield head coach George Kapner made the decision to not let seniors William Kelly and Max Carle know that the fate of the tournament would be decided by how well they swung the racket. Kapner did not want to add “unnecessary pressure” on his players, but when the Blue Devils were down 3-2 in the third and final set, Kapner instructed his assistant coach to let the seniors know the magnitude of their match.
Kelly and Carle excelled under pressure as they stormed back to win the next three games and eventually captured the trophy with a score of 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 against J.P. Stevens’ Tarush Aneja and Nihar Prabhala.
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“There was nothing to lose, they’re seniors and this is their team,” said Kapner on his change of heart about letting them know. “They’re athletes, they’re competitors, they’re the real deal, I was protecting them because I’ve known them for four years, I was too over-protective but they wanted to know and once they knew, they exploded.”
A point deduction for excessive celebration in the final game could not stop Kelly and Carle once they got rolling as they eventually closed the game out in the second match point of the game at 40-30.
When the match was won all the players, including a few graduated seniors who came to support their former team, mobbed the clutch seniors as they celebrated the championship.
It was déjà vu for the graduated seniors who also celebrated a sectional championship last year by defeating J.P. Stevens.
The gutsy performance showed the team’s ability to respond to adversity as they suffered an unexpected lost by their first singles player, Tyler Roth, who lost for only the second time this season. Roth lost to Vishal Walia in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Damien Ruparel, the second singles player for Westfield, also entered the day with just one lost for the entire season and was able to respond by beating Gokul Murugesan, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
The Blue Devils also scored a crucial point with a win by Owen Bartok and Matthew Bartok who were competing at first doubles. Owen, a junior, and Matthew, a freshman, came up huge as they won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Once again Kapner was hesitant, as he was not sure how two brothers would respond to playing with one another but eventually he made the decision to let them play. That decision helped the team all season, including Monday as the Blue Devils improved to 20-3.
“From the moment we put them together they have been sensational,” Kapner said. “The younger one listens to the older one and the older one is extremely supportive, they communicate together and it’s a lot of fun to watch them play.”
With the great team win the Blue Devils punched their ticket to the Group semifinals, where they will face off against Livingston, a team that beat them earlier this season, 3-2. Westfield will look for redemption as it fell last year in the Group IV final to Livingston.
Westfield 3, J.P. Stevens 2
Singles: Vishal Walia (JPS) d. Tyler Roth 6-4, 6-3; Damien Ruparel (W) d. Gokul Murugesan 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Alex Telson (JPS) d. Noah Reich 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); Doubles: Owen Bartok and Matthew Bartok (W) d. Gouttham Chandrasekar and Arjun Krishnan 6-3, 6-3; William Kelly and Max Carle (W) d. Tarush Aneja and Nihar Prabhala 6-0, 2-6, 6-4.
North 2 Group I
New Providence 3, Glen Ridge 2
Singles: William Cotrone (GR) d. Christopher King 6-2, 6-4; Joseph Biancamano (GR) d. David Sann 6-0, 6-4; Cristiano Hocken (NP) d. Ethan Che 6-0, 6-2; Doubles: Brett Caminiti and John Souren (NP) d. Alex Weissman and Connor Linehan 6-2, 7-5; Brian Kelly and Eric Schneider (NP) d. Asher Segal and Nick Vecchione 7-5, 6-0.
Central Group IV
Montgomery 4, East Brunswick 1
Singles: Joshua Marchalik (EB) d. Vishnu Joshi 6-2, 3-6, 10-5; Vivikth Vemula (M) d. Abhinav Bhamidipati 6-2, 6-0; Lucas Flotta (M) d. Vikas Dalal 6-4, 6-2; Doubles: Eric Wang and Kevin Xu (M) d. Harold Trakhman and Christopher Choy 6-2, 6-1; Liam Lynch and Phillip Szkudlarski (M) d. Akshay Malavade and Kameron Wang 6-1, 6-0. Records: Montgomery 20-1, East Brunswick 13-4.
South Non-Public B
Pingry 5, Moorestown Friends 0
Singles: Jeffrey Zucker (P) d. Harvey Robin 6-1, 6-0; Jonathan Lee (P) d. Hunter Harris 6-3, 6-2; Andrew Lee (P) d. Dylan Carilli (P) 6-1, 6-1; Doubles: Wesley Jakimowicz and Jack Schiffman (P) d. Jordan White and Hunter Harris 6-4, 6-3; Joshua Metzger and Neel Sambamurthy and Andrew Landesman and Alex Barrett 6-1, 6-0.