Boys' Tennis Team Falls To Morristown

All head coach Richard Goldstein could ask from his team was to play every point like it was their last.

And that's exactly what the Cranford boys' varsity tennis team did against visiting Morristown yesterday. And while the outcome wasn't in their favor, the effort impressed the first-year Cougars mentor, with every member making his first state tournament appearance.

"The first time we were here in the states, experience played a role today," said Goldstein. "Morristown's been there many more times than us. Our guys didn't play bad. Morristown plays a lot of schools up there that are better than us, they were able to beat these schools, and for us to compete the way we did today, it was a success for us."

The only senior on the squad, Derek DeCagna, teamed once again with freshman Danny Buono at first doubles. They battled but lost 6-2, 6-4.

"I was extremely impressed with first doubles," Goldstein said. "They came back. They were down the first set and lost. The second set they battled back. They got to deuce a lot of times and I was very happy with their performance."

"We definitely gave it our all," said DeCagna. "We were trying to dig us out of the hole. We definitely weren't holding anything back. We really regrouped in the second set, it was very close. I was impressed on how everyone was able to compete. That was deceptive on the scoresheet, but if you were here and watched the matches, they were all very competitive." 

"We played really well, I just wish the outcome could have been the other way around," said Buono. "They're an excellent team and I felt we made out goal this year, to be over .500 and exceeded that. We did really well in counties. To make it this far, it's a great feeling, as a freshman especially, to know that this is possible. It gives us something to build upon next year."

The impressive freshman Christian Woo won his first set 7-5, but lost the second and third sets to Shaun Epstein. Sophomore Andrew Miller lost a tough match at second singles, while junior Alex Heucke fought hard in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Nikki Shah, but found the experience to be rewarding.

 "Obviously, it's always disappointing to lose, but we went out there and gave it our all today," said Heucke. "Being a young team helps a lot. Losing Derek next year is going to be a significant loss."

The state appearance was the first in five years for the Cougars. It was an experience which a young team can build on.

"For us to be where we are this year, we met our goals so far, we played well today," Goldstein added. "I'm very happy with the team. They stuck together and competed. Where we are right now, we have a lot of young guys, and going into next year, we're very confident we can do a lot better than we did this year.'

"We proved that we're here to stay and we're a team to be reckoned with," said Huecke.

Cranford (8-6) will be home to Bound Brook today before wrapping up their spring season next week.