Sports
Pioneers' Tennis Team Picks Apart Dayton Bulldogs
Senior co-captain Tony Therattil and Mike Herrigel won the two doubles matches by a combined score of 24-3, while Alex Hocken won his singles match, 6-4, 6-1.
The boys' varsity tennis team topped the Jonathan Dayton Bulldogs 4 ½ - 1 ½ on a chilly Friday afternoon in New Providence.
Although the Bulldogs' Matt Neubauer won his match in straight sets, taking the first set of his match with the Pioneers' Javier Sanchez with ease, a 6-0 victory, Sanchez fought back. Unfortunately, the senior captain for the Dawgs prevailed.
But while Neubauer was in control of his first set, the Pioneers were doing the same in their doubles matches. Senior co-captain Tony Therattil and Mike Herrigel won the two matches by a combined score of 24-3, including a 6-1, 6-0 victory.
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“Dayton is always one of our tough competitors, so you can’t take them lightly," Therattil said. “You just have to play your best and hope you win."
New Providence coach John Delloiacono agrees with his co-captain on the rivalry and competitiveness of the Bulldogs-Pioneers matches.
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“Dayton has consistently been one of our chief competitors over the past 10 years," he said. "They always seem to bring out the best in our team and we always seem to bring out the best in them."
In the other two singles matches, the Bulldogs put up tough fights. Zach Corey was up on his match against the Pioneers' Alex Hocken, but Hocken fought back, winning the first set 6-4 and cruising through the second 6-1. Ross Konesky battled his way to a victory in the first set against Pioneers' co-captain Bobby Libera, 6-3, and 6-6 in the second set, when it was called due to rain and ruled a draw.
The Pioneers, the Group 1 State Champions last year, are slowly starting to gear up for the state tournament. Delloiacono knows that no matter who the team faces, they have to play well enough to win.
“Consistent improvement would be the one key phrase that I always like to emphasize as the season goes on,” said the coach in response to his teams matches before the states. “My philosophy has always been 'you set your goals and play your entire season towards certain things, and one of those things is the state tournament.'"
Both the Pioneers and the Bulldogs are headed in the right direction, and might see each other again, this time battling in the state tournament.
Up next, the Pioneers' varsity tennis team will play at Cranford on Tuesday, 4 p.m.
