Boys’ Tennis Team Beats Somerville 3-2

There's nothing like a winning streak to spike the confidence of a team heading into a big event.

That's where the Cranford boys' varsity tennis team finds itself, having won two straight matches with the Union County Tournament on the horizon.

Behind singles victories by Andrew Miller and Christian Woo and a doubles win by the team of Derek Decagna and Danny Buono, Cranford was able to edge past Somerville 3-2 on Wednesday.

"It was a long one, three sets," said Miller, who defeated Mike Finlan 6-0, 0-6, 7-5. "I dropped the second one. I came back and I think my mental game definitely helped me in the third set because I fell apart in the second. I pulled through. It ended up helping the team."

"Watching Andrew Miller's third singles match today was just a nail-biter," said Cranford coach Richard Goldstein. "If you took my blood pressure right now, it would be through the roof. For it to go three sets and for it to be so close of a game, you could just see the exhaustion of both players. And at the end of the day, we just told Andrew to push through, you could do it, and he put us over the top."

"Our match was definitely a little tighter than we would have liked," said DeCagna. "We pulled it off, especially at the end there, coming through with some big points."

"It was a really big one," said Buono. "It was kind of surprising that our match was the longest one, even though everyone else went three sets and we only went two. We both played really well, Derek and I, and we both paired up really well. I feel like we played the big points well."

DeCagna, a senior captain, and Buono, a freshman, have blossomed into a formidable first doubles pairing for Cranford. The duo perservered on their way to a 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-4 triumph.

"It's like big brother, little brother out there," Goldstein said. "The team spirit they both have together, the communication within both of them, it's second to none. It's fantastic to watch."

Junior Alex Heucke battled until the end, but lost to Harsha Honasage at first singles 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Freshman Christian Woo improved to 5-2 by winning his match 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 over Somerville's Adam Morris.

"They played awesome," Goldstein said. "We went out there, we knew it was going to be a tough match, but at the end of the day, they won. They wanted it more. They went out there and performed extremely well. I can't be happier."

Next is the county tournament Thursday and Friday to be held in Plainfield. In a county heavy with top-notch tennis talent, the red-hot Cougars will be cheering each other on in hopes of advancing to Friday's finals.

"This gives us some confidence going in there," said DeCagna of the tournament. "We don't know who we're going to pull in the counties, we're hoping for some type of seed, so hopefully this win will help us out."

"I'm going against some really tough people there," said Miller. "I just hope to maybe advance to the next day. It would be a great accomplishment if it happened."