Schools
A Winning Week for MHS Boys' Tennis Team
They've already played four matches, possibly two more on Saturday.
The Millburn High School varsity tennis team had a run of four straight wins this week, bringing the boys’ overall record to 12-1 and their Super Essex Conference, American Division, record to 5-1.
On Monday, they beat Westfield High School; on Tuesday, in the beginning rounds of the Essex County Tournament, they rolled over West Orange and Seton Hall Prep; on Wednesday, Holmdel High School was the victim; and on Thursday, Montclair Kimberley Academy fell.
In the shutout against Westfield, first singles Tyler Schick cruised past Scott Thompson, winning 6-1, 6-0.
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Next off the court were first doubles Mac Johnson and Jared Wishnow, who beat Jack Rickles and Jacob Harris 6-0, 7-5.
The match-winning third point was notched by second doubles Nicky Chen-Schmidt and Teddy Moskovitz, who defeated Jacob Ziff and Justin
Cafiero 6-1, 6-4.
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Dean Koman, at third singles, took out Max Mancini 6-0, 6-2.
The final team point was scored by second singles Rob Xie against
Adam Greene, 6-1, 6-2.
A steady advance in the county tournament
The Essex County Tournament was an all-day affair Tuesday at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield. In the morning, the Millers, seeded second behind Livingston in the tournament, blanked West Orange 5-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the West Orange match, Schick, Xie, and senior Andrew Giles constituted the singles lineup, and Johnson/Wishnow and Chen-Schmidt/Jon Duan played first and second doubles, respectively. The overall score in games was 60-2.
In the afternoon, the Millers met Seton Hall Prep in the quarterfinals. The singles players were Schick, Xie, and Dean Koman, facing Cesar Munoz, Greg Olesnycky, and Antonio Guarco at first, second, and third, respectively.
There was little drama on the bottom two courts, with both players winning in straight sets. First singles Schick had to overcome a first set loss for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, victory.
In doubles, Johnson and Wishnow on one beat Arthur Gigon and Ken Lamar 6-3, 6-1. On the second court, Chen-Schmidt and Duan held off James Cirignano and Tom Kim to win 6-1, 7-5.
A tough out-of-conference opponent
On Wednesday, highly ranked Holmdel High came calling. Miller third singles Koman dispatched his opponent, Daway Chou-Ren, in short order, winning 6-0, 6-1.
Next off the court were second doubles Chen-Schmidt and Moskovitz, with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Holmdel’s Sam Joynson and Dan Tu.
Xie played a hard-fought match at second singles against Michael Chen, but succombed 3-6, 3-6.
With the team score at 2-1 for Millburn, first doubles Johnson and Wishnow scored the game-winning third team point, beating Ganesh Natarajan and Mike Li 6-1, 6-0.
Although the final point belonged to Holmdel -- Schick bowed to Derek Liu 6-2, 6-1 -- the match went to Millburn, 3 courts to 2.
In the Montclair Kimberley match on Thursday, the Millers took all five courts in the two schools’ second conference meeting this season.
Xie, Koman, and senior Brian Alter played 1st, 2nd, and 3rd singles, respectively.
Xie double-bageled Jason Kwan. Koman beat Henry Shepherd 6-3, 6-3. Alter came back from a narrow second-set loss to defeat Vineet Champanaria 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.
On the doubles courts, Chen-Schmidt and Duan shut out Joel Battsek and Alex Pau at first doubles, and Moskovitz and sophomore Keith Knopp beat Justin Minnion and John Post 6-1, 6-0.
The week isn’t over yet for the Millers. On Saturday they are slated to
play fourth-seeded Montclair High School in the semifinals of the Essex County Tournament, again at Brookdale Park. The finals are scheduled to be played there on Saturday afternoon.
