Spring Sports Preview: John Jay Tennis

For juniors Josh Fromm, Scott Koren, Aaron Cohn and Stephen Arenson it's been a frustrating three years.

Since they were freshmen, the John Jay players competed in the power conference, going against some of the best teams in Section 1. Even though the Indians had the talent to compete with Byram Hills, Scarsdale, Horace Greeley and Fox Lane, they lacked the experience and depth to win those matches. It's been three straight one-win seasons for the Indians.

"The last few years we've finished in the back of the pack," John Jay coach Cal Kramer said. "We were playing in probably the toughest league and we had a young team. We're competing against those teams and we were playing mostly freshmen. It was tough."

But this season promises to be different.

Section 1 eliminated the power conference due to budgetary constraints and grouped teams according to geography. So now John Jay gets to compete against a more favorable league schedule that includes Fox Lane, North Salem, Somers and Harrison.

"We should do pretty well this season," Kramer said. "We should do well in singles and we have some pretty good doubles teams. We don't have a lot of depth and we'll probably still finish behind Fox Lane, but playing in this league should be good for our guys."

John Jay's junior class of Fromm, Koren and Arenson will be competing in doubles with Koren and Arenson teaming up, while Fromm will join with promising sophomore Thomas Glading. A year ago both teams made it to the sectional tournament.

Looking ahead, Kramer doesn't expect his top doubles team of Koren and Arenson to lose a match before sectionals.

"Most kids come in and they don't know how to play doubles, but I've been teaching these guys since they were 10-years-old," Kramer said. "These guys have grown into doubles. Most kids play doubles and can't volley; they just sit back on the baseline and hammer the ball. These guys, they can volley and they work together as a team."

But possibly the most talented members of this Indians' team are their two singles players, both freshmen – Nick Crystal and Frank Kote. Crystal recently won the national doubles tournament in Florida. The third singles player – Cohn – is also nationally ranked.

Even though Crystal and Kote are poised to have a big season, it is still unclear as to whether the two freshmen will combine to form a doubles team heading into sectionals. Kramer believes if the two players compete in doubles they would be one of the best pairs in the state.

As far as this season goes, Kramer believes his team has the talent to compete for a league title.

"It all depends on how well the kids play that day," Kramer said. "Fox Lane is still going to be tough and hopefully we can split with them, and Harrison is a solid team. But this is definitely the most talented team I've had."