Ocean City Tops Absegami in Cape-Atlantic Tennis Match

The rain held off long enough to give the Ocean City High School boys' tennis team a chance to hit the court.

The Red Raiders, who were coming off a loss to rival Mainland on Tuesday, were looking for their first win in more than a week.

Ocean City got what they were looking for, as it defeated visiting Absegami, 4-1, in a Cape-Atlantic League contest.

"It felt good," Ocean City's Zack Shutz said. "We haven't had a win in a week or something like that. I'm glad everybody is playing pretty well."

"This group is not far away," Ocean City coach George McNally said. "The league isn't great, but it's real solid. We need a couple of wins. Playing this one was big."

Ocean City's Phil Adams picked up his first singles win with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Anthony Chong at second singles.

Sophomore Nathan Roberts also picked up his first singles point, topping Chris Huynh, 6-3, 6-4 at third singles.

The first doubles team of Tim Kernar and Steve Perry shook off their only loss of the season at the hands of the Mustangs to beat Darwin Ye and John Gabrosiz, 6-2, 6-2.

The Red Raiders' Tim DeRosa and Ben Weisberg cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Valon Roma and Tommy Evans.

The win was just the second of the year for a team that lost key players from last year, including Dan and Chris Barrus.

"It has been a solid year for what we lost," McNally said. "We probably lost two of the best players in the history of the school."

This season, the Red Raiders had to bump everyone up in the ranks. Last year's double players are in this year's singles spots.

"I think we are all pretty good," Shutz said. "With the big losses we had, everybody is playing in a new spot, and not everybody has adjusted yet, especially me. I haven't played singles competitively, really. I'm starting to get the hang of it."