Millburn Tennis Ends Run in Tournament of Champions

The Millburn tennis team's championship run came to an end Wednesday afternoon at Mercer County Park. They stood toe-to-toe with the number one team in the state in Chatham, but fell a match short and lost 3-2 in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions.

While the Miller doubles squads were dominant in straight set wins, it was the singles play of the Chatham Cougars that was the eventual undoing for the Millburn boys.

"We were playing the number one team in the state and we competed with them," said Millburn head coach Bill Wickenheisser. "It was a 3-2 loss... Unfortunately when you get here, only one of the six remaining teams will go home happy. This is just an extra bonus when you're here."

With the contest knotted at two apiece, the winning point came down to a battle of sophomores at second singles. Chatham's Quentin Monaghan out-dueled Millburn's Robert Xie in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Monaghan used excellent ball placement to move Xie around the court and control the tempo for most of the match.

His older brother Patrick Monaghan was able to handle Millburn's power swinger Eric Cohen also in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, giving Chatham its first point of the contest.

In doubles play, Chatham had few answers for Millburn's play at the net and teamwork. Dan Feldman and Mac Johnson at first doubles topped Matt Evans and Andrew Coppola, 6-3, 6-2 for an easy win. At second doubles, the brother combination of Sebastian Chen-Schmidt and Nicky Chen-Schmidt cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Chad Gildersleeve and Chris Harvey.

"They played good doubles," Wickenheisser said of his team. "Own the net, play percentage tennis and make sure they have each other's backs."

At third singles Chatham's Matt Romei overpowered Millburn's Jared Wishnow 6-2, 6-0 for the Cougars' second point of the day, which tied the score.

Despite the loss, Wickenheisser was not in low spirits, understanding that for the second consecutive season his Millers were among the final four teams in the state. They captured a conference championship, their second straight Group 3 title and their 25th consecutive sectional championship.

"I might've already forgotten about them because I was so focused on this match," Wickenheisser said. "But we can't forget about them because they were a big part of our season... We had a great year, 24-7 is a tremendous year. I'm very happy for them."

Millburn ended its season at 24-7, all of which came with the Millers having to fill six of the seven starting positions. Only Sebastian returned to the same spot he was in a year ago. Every other player was either slotted in a different position or weren't starters on varsity.

The Millers graduate four seniors later this month, but will have a large chunk of their starters back for another run next season.

"Our kids work hard, that's why we're always good," Wickenheisser said. "Hopefully we'll regroup, reload and be back here next season."