South Jersey teams swept from tennis tourney

WEST WINDSOR, N.J. – They came. They saw. They made a reservation for next season.

Lenape lost, 4-1, to Westfield yesterday in the team tennis Group 4 state semifinals at Mercer County Park.

But with six of their top seven players scheduled to return, including dynamic No. 1 singles Nikola Kocovic, the Indians hope to make another visit next season - with a different result.

"It was a great experience for our kids to see what it takes to win a state title," Lenape coach Tony Guerrera said. "We won our first South Jersey title this year. Next year we'll be a little hungrier."

Guerrera said Westfield's "relentless" play was a lesson for his young team, which won the first sectional title in the history of the program with a 3-2 victory over Cherry Hill East on Monday.

"They just keep coming after you," Guerrera said. "They battle every single point. But you have to beat the best to be the best. Our kids know what it takes now."

Kocovic (23-0), a junior and the No. 3 seed in the forthcoming state singles tournament, earned Lenape's lone point with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Adam Reich.

Kocovic said Lenape (12-2) will benefit from the experience of playing against the team that is ranked No. 1 in the state by the Newark Star-Ledger.

"Next year, we'll know what to expect," he said.

Group 3: Moorestown (22-3) fell, 3-2, to archrival Millburn in the semifinals.

Second singles Gabe Allen and the undefeated first-doubles team of John Pontillo and Mike Bass won points for the Quakers.

The match was tied, 2-2, and came down to third singles, where Millburn's Robert Xie scored a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Brandon Greenwood in a hard-fought and entertaining match.

"I give him a 10 out of 10 for his effort and for the quality of his play," Moorestown coach Bill Kingston said of Greenwood, a junior.

Kingston praised the leadership of seniors Allen, Pontillo, T.J. Riley and Mike DeAngelis.

"They put everything they had into this," he said.

Group 2: Haddonfield (17-4) fell to Chatham by a 31/2-11/2 score in the semifinals.

The second-doubles team of juniors Ty Simcox and Ian Roberts won their match, 7-5, 6-3, while junior No. 2 singles Will Lawlor earned a half-point when his match was stopped after Chatham clinched the team competition.

"I'm proud of the way we played," Haddonfield coach Jeff Holman said. "Chatham was a solid favorite, but I thought we had a chance, and I was pleased with how our guys competed."

Non-Public A: St. Augustine (20-2) fell, 5-0, to Delbarton in the fifth consecutive meeting between the programs in the state championship.

Delbarton has won four of five.

"We had a great year," St. Augustine coach Sam Miles said. Delbarton is "so strong at doubles. They have so much depth. We held our own in singles, but it was tough."

The results

GROUP 4 SEMIFINALS

Westfield 4, Lenape 1

Nikola Kocovic, L, d. Adam Reich, 6-2, 6-1; Dean Thompson, W, d. Mike Humes, 6-3, 6-1; Justin Snyder, W, d. Mike Perrone, 6-4, 6-0; Scott Bernstein and Graeme Statz, W, d. Marc Reynaud and Matt Fredrick, 6-1, 6-0; James Chu and Greg Leppescu, W, d. Mike Sha and Dan Sha, 6-4, 6-1

GROUP 4 FINAL

Westfield 5, Ridge 0

GROUP 3 SEMIFINALS

Millburn 3, Moorestown 2

James Magnes, Mi. d. T.J. Riley, 6-4, 6-0; Gabe Allen, Mo. d. Eric Cohen, 6-3, 6-2; Robert Xie, Mi. d. Brandon Greenwood, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; John Pontillo and Mike Bass, Mo. d. David Kraus and Nishant Mishra, 6-4, 4-6; 6-2; Sebastian Chen-Schmidt and Bobby Renner, Mi. d. Mike DeAngelis and Matt Holzinger, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

GROUP 3 FINAL

Millburn 4, Ramapo 1

GROUP 2 SEMIFINALS

Chatham 31/2, Haddonfield 11/2

Patrick Monaghan, C. d. Matt Chalkley, 6-0, 6-0; Will Lawlor, H. split Matt Romei, 4-6, 7-6, 1-4; Pete Terivelli, C, d. Mike Steinberger, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1; James Salierno and Matt Evans, C, d. Brian Oatway and Jeff Smith, 6-3, 6-3; Ty Simcox and Ian Roberts, H, d. Chris Harvey and Andrew Coppola, 7-5, 6-3.

GROUP 2 FINAL

Pascack Hills 3, Chatham 2

GROUP 1 SEMIFINALS

Jon Dayton 5, Pennsville 0

Dan Karlin d. Jake Wyshinski, 6-2, 6-3; Jordan Gelband d. Bryan Bodine, 6-1, 6-2; John Friedman d. Ed Finlaw, 6-2, 6-2; Colin Greten and Matt Neubauer d. Codie Todd and John Kaiser, 6-0, 6-1; Shawn Gutman and Umberto Annunziata d. Cory Finlaw and Brett Lankenau, 6-2, 6-0.

GROUP 1 FINAL

Jon Dayton 41/2, New Milford 1/2

NON-PUBLIC A FINAL

Delbarton 5, St. Augustine 0

Henry Steer, D, d. Chas Berenato 7-6, 6-2; Mike DeFeo d. Taylor Santero 6-0, 6-3; Matt Massey d. Matt Monroe, 7-6, 6-3; Evan Zak and Brad Anerun d. Brandon Lawrence and Aiden Kaye, 6-1, 6-2; Matt Tolkkowsky and Donny McMaster d. Nick Motta and Steve Corcoran, 6-0, 6-1.

NON-PUBLIC B FINAL

Newark Academy 5, Moorestown Friends 0

Quentin Monaghan d. Eric Maertin, 6-3, 6-1; Tom Caputo d. Alex Timber, 6-0, retired; Greg Holtzman d. Janak Bhatt, 6-1, 6-0; Grant Schalet and Andre Rivera d. Josh Myers and Shawn Gupta, 6-0, 6-3; Om Pathak and Neil Sethi d. David White and Jarrett Berkowitz, 6-1, 6-0.