Nyack High School boys tennis opened its season this week by facing off against two of the top teams in the county, Clarkstown North and Suffern.
In Monday’s match against North, Nyack fell 4-3 despite an impressive turnaround by their third and fourth doubles teams, who each took home wins to open their seasons.
Wednesday, Nyack faced off against Suffern, where they put up another good fight yet fell again, 4-3. Despite wins from their second, third and fourth doubles teams, Nyack had difficulty matching up against Suffern’s first and second singles teams, and their first doubles team. The third singles match was much closer, however Suffern’s Chad Weinstein managed to pull out a win over Nyack’s Scott Guinn.
Though a tough start to the season, Nyack was the underdog going into the matches, as both North and Suffern are larger schools from a more competitive league. The fact that they managed to make the matches as close as they were bodes well for Nyack this season.
“We showed some definite nerves and we showed that we need to practice more,” said Nyack’s head coach Josh Weinman after Monday’s match. “It’s always tough early on, but it’s the same thing for everybody. But, with practice and match experience, we’ll be fine.”
Nyack is coming off an impressive season last year in which they won their league. This year, the defending champs have their eyes set on taking home another title.
“[Our goal is] definitely to win our league and get better as the season goes on,” said Weinman. “It’s always to get better, but to win the rest of the remaining matches. We start off playing some of the bigger schools and better tennis programs in Rockland County, so the first few matches are always difficult, so if we can do well against them, that will help us for the rest of the year.”
On the negative side for Nyack this season, they lost their first and second singles players from last year.
“They were reliable and solid,” said Weinman. “They always gave me a victory, so that’s gonna be tough, but we’ll see how that goes this year.”
On the positive side, Nyack has some talented players who are able to step up and fill in the gaps. They also have a lot of experience on their side, as 10 of their 15 players this year are seniors. According to Weinman, the top talent in singles to watch this year will be Lyndon Nicholas (1st singles), Alex Satawa (2nd singles) and Scott Guinn (3rd singles).
“Lyndon Nicholas played first doubles for me last year and now he’s moved up to first singles, so he’s improved over the wintertime,” said Weinman. “Alex Satawa, he’s one of my captains, he plays second singles, and Scott Guinn, who’s my other captain and plays third singles, those are some good players. I have a lot of seniors this year, so I have experience.”
As for doubles, Weinman pointed toward his first doubles team, Lorenzo Ramos and Ryan Kirsch, saying, “I really like my first doubles team. I think they’re gonna be pretty good.”
Ramos represents some new talent coming Nyack. Starting in the first doubles spot in his freshman year, Nyack can expect some impressive things from Ramos over the next four years.
As defending champs, Nyack is the team to beat in their league. For them, Nanuet is looking to be their top challenger.
“Their number one singles player is very good but I don’t really know who they have besides for him coming back,” said Weinman, “but they are usually our main competition."
Depending on the weather, Nyack will face East Ramapo next at home on Friday, Apr. 1, at 4 p.m.
Roster:
Freshmen:
Christian Buroni
Lorenzo Ramos
Theo Yongue
Sophomore:
Liam Rodriguez
Junior:
Ryan Kirsch
Seniors:
Ron Dollente
Conor Doyle
Scott Guinn (C)
Carlo Maghirang
David Mahabir
Lyndon Nicholas
Michael Okamoto
Alex Satawa (C)
Kern Silverstein
Ravi Vaija
