The Millburn tennis team’s quest for a 26th consecutive state sectional championship continued on Thursday late afternoon, with the locals dispatching Chatham, 5-0, in the North II Group 3 state semifinals. The win could have also served as a small measure of revenge for the Millers, who had their seasons ended by Chatham a year ago, in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions.
Due to steady rain this week and possibly more coming, the match, which was originally scheduled to be played at Millburn High School, was held at the indoor facilities at the Brook Lake Country Club in Florham Park.
“The key today was experience,” said Millburn head coach Bill Wickenheisser. “It’s always experience. We didn’t have our full lineup today, but that means we get another guy in there to play for more experience. That’s what we’ve been doing all year long, giving guys opportunities to play, and that’s what we’ve done since I’ve been here it seems.”
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“I thought we played about as well as we could,” said Chatham head coach Bruce Humphries. “We were just really outmatched with experience and playing depth. We played hard, we went after it, but they’re just that good.”
Tristan Lane’s 6-1, 6-1 victory over Jake Hart at second singles, was the third and match winning point for the Millers, clinching them a spot in the championship match next week. Lane took control of the match in the first set, after winning his serve and earning a break point, turning a 3-2 contest into a 5-2 one.
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“I think it was a pretty challenging match. I got a lot of balls in and I played consistently enough,” Lane said afterwards. “I hit my winners and took my chances and was able to pull off some big breaks.”
Rob Xie was the first off of the court for Millburn at first singles, cruising past of Alec Weber, not dropping a game in a straight set win. Because of Wickenheisser’s decision to give normal first singles starter Eric Cohen a day off, all of Millburn’s singles players moved up a slot and did not disappoint. At third singles, Alex Shipp defeated Chatham’s Yousef Ismail, 6-2, 6-2, putting the Millers up 4-0 at the time.
“They’ve done it all year, so it wasn’t new to them, but I’m always impressed by what they can do and the depth that we have,” Wickenheisser said.
Both of Millburn’s doubles teams were also very effective. The first doubles team of Mac Johnson and Jared Wishnow defeated Max Brown and Chad Gildersleeve in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1, putting Millburn up 2-0. In the final match of the afternoon, the Miller second doubles squad of Nicky Chen-Schmidt and Teddy Moskovitz bested Parker Dixon and Thomas Karmel, 6-1, 6-1.
“The doubles are really clicking well, they’re playing good doubles. They‘re playing very good doubles,” Wickenheisser said. “It’s not individuals out there. They’re playing as a team together and they’re in the right spots. So I’m very impressed with their progress.”
The fourth seeded Cougars, who have two regular season matches remaining on the schedule, dropped to 14-8 with the loss in what was billed as a rebuilding year. The defending Group 2 Champs and TOC finalists from a year ago defeated Scotch Plains, 3-2, in the quarterfinal round after receiving a first round bye.
“This was definitely a rebuilding year, considering that the lineup has two guys from second doubles [last year] and then everybody up from JV or freshmen,” Humphries said. “So it’s a learning year. There’s a lack of experience but we’re getting better. I’m pretty happy.”
With no seniors on the team and presumably the entire team returning next season, Chatham appears to be in good position to make another run next season.
“That’s going to depend on them to work hard starting as soon as this season ends.” Humphries said. “They had a good look at the competition, now you say here are the goals we have to set. It’s going to be up to them to go through it. I’m surely going to help them to try and achieve those goals, but they’re the ones who have to go out and play.”
The top-seeded Millers await the winner of third-seeded West Morris and second-seeded Mendham for the championship match. In the quarterfinal round, also played at Brook Lake, Millburn won 5-0 over Nutley and also received a first round bye. Millburn improved to 20-8 with Thursday’s victory and with a win in the sectional final, will continue the journey for a third straight Group 3 championship.
