Fox Lane tennis players blank Somers... again

By JIM MACLEAN 

Facing the same team for the second time, Fox Lane varsity tennis coach Scott Shannon knew what the Foxes were up against as they hosted Somers on 17.

Fox Lane had defeated Somers on the road by a 7-0 score earlier in the year, so Shannon was able to mix up his lineup and create new match ups to make it an exciting match. The result was the same as the Foxes scored another 7-0 shutout victory over the Tuskers to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Shannon was able to pair up Fox Lane seniors Oliver Guzman and Matt Pierce in the fourth doubles match, and that would prove to be the highlight of the match as the duo prevailed with a thrilling 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 victory.

“What was really exciting was our two seniors playing fourth doubles, they had the most exciting match,” said Fox Lane coach Scott Shannon. “They split sets and went into a super tie breaker, all the other matches were done, so both teams were there cheering them on, very exciting, a great finish to the day.”

Shannon credited the duo for rallying to play a strong tiebreaker set after dropping the second set, with Guzman coming up with some big shots to secure the win.

“He played fearlessly, he wasn’t pushing, just hitting his shots, came up with some key points to help win the match and it was great to see and fun to watch,” Shannon said of Guzman and Pierce.

In addition to the exciting finish, it was a dominant performance overall for the Foxes to sweep all seven matches. Jacob Betensky won at first singles, with Addison Townley and Will Assad winning second and third singles. Mark Chen and Ryan Barone teamed up to win first doubles, followed by Mike Balkovsky and Alex Lau in second doubles. M.J. Arkin and Gene Grogan got the win at third doubles.

Fox Lane also scored a 4-3 win over White Plains and a thrilling 4-3 win over rival Yorktown as the Foxes are currently in first-place in the league standings.

Against the Huskers, Fox Lane pulled out the 4-3 win with three victories in the doubles matches.

Townley won a thriller in three sets at first singles for the Foxes as he rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 victory. Then it was up to the doubles teams to pull out the win.

“The Yorktown match we won 4-3 and the match that decided it was second doubles with Potenski and Assad,” explained Shannon. “Potenski had been away and had not played in about 10 days. They lost the first set, came back and won the second, and won the tiebreaker. That was very exciting, also the last match on the court to decide the match.”

At first doubles, Chen and Curtis McConnell teamed up for an easy win by the score of 6-2, 6-2. Lau and Bly prevailed at third doubles by the score of 6-2, 7-5, and that set the stage for Betensky and Assad to pull out the team win with their victory at second doubles.

The Foxes were set to host Yorktown on April 23, in a rematch that could decide the league title with the Foxes, White Plains, Yorktown and Rye B competing for the crown.

A big finish and a league title would be an added bonus to cap off a good season as the Foxes came in with a lot of new faces and young players on the roster after losing most of the lineup from last year to graduation.

“The kids are having a good time, so far we’re having a good year, and we lost so many players from last year, but the younger players have been pretty strong and getting stronger,” added Shannon.