By DAVID NAHAN
Sentinel staff
LINWOOD – Coming off an 18-3 season, the Raider boys tennis team is off to another good start this spring and fresh off a 4-1 victory over rival Mainland Regional on April 16 and 5-0 wins over Middle Township and St. Augustine Prep.
Ocean City is 6-1 to start the season.
“We have a pretty tough schedule to prepare for … the end of the season,” said head coach Tim Kelley, who brought back a strong senior class.
Charles DiCicco is in his fourth year at No. 1 singles. Tracy Steingard, another senior, moved up from second doubles last year to second singles this year. Senior Jackson Barnes is at third singles, which he also played as a freshman. He was at first doubles his sophomore and junior years.
Senior Colin Bowman is paired with sophomore Chase Bowman as first doubles and senior Luke Wagner is at second doubles with sophomore Joey Goodman.
“We just want to go match by match and do the best we can,” Kelley said, noting the Raiders have schedule some tough opponents this season. Part of the rationale is having less practice, getting that out of the way, and to see some different opponents.
“We’re playing some schools we would never see, like Bishop Shanahan from Pennsylvania, St. Joseph Prep out of Pa. Hopefully we’ll be able to reschedule Haddonfield and Haddon Township, they have some different players in their lineups from last year. (Those matches were rained out.)
The team’s only loss was to Christian Brothers Academy, which was the first of the season after two rainouts. The boys lost 5-0, but the coach noted CBA will be one of the better teams in New Jersey.
Kelley said they expect that all of the teams outside the Cape-Atlantic League they have scheduled should be just as successful, if not more so, than they are.
“That way it gives our guys a good look for what we hope will be a deep run into the playoffs,” he said.
“It was a great year last year, but we ran into Moorestown at the wrong time. Even though we were home, it would have been nice to see them one round later.”
Because of the team’s record, the Raiders were the No. 1 seed in the South Jersey tournament, but lost to Moorestown, the eventual South Jersey champion, in the semifinals.
After losing to CBA, the Raiders beat Vineland 4-1, Cedar Creek 5-0 and Cumberland 3-0.
Against Mainland last week, DiCicco beat Mustang Saketh Agava at first singles, 6-1, 7-5, after coming back from a deficit in the second set. At second singles, Steingard beat Mainland’s Rosenberg 6-2, 6-1. At third singles, Mustang Tristan Miller defeated Barnes 6-3, 6-0 at third singles.
At first doubles, the match went into a tie-breaker after Mustangs Luigi Batioja and Kussh Patel won the first set 6-1, but Colin Bowman and Chase Bowman won the second by the same score. In the tie-breaker, the Bowmans prevailed 10-4.
At second doubles it was another close match as Wagner and Goodman won the first set over Mustangs Liam Angelo and Arya Patel 6-2, but had to go to a tie-breaker in the second set before winning 7-6 (7-3).
On Thursday, the Raiders swept Middle Township 5-0, but two of the matches featured tie-breakers before they were decided.
DiCicco beat Simon Hardin 6-1, 6-1 at first singles. Steingard won at second singles over Justen Wen 7-6 (7-2), 7-5. At third singles, Barnes beat Tommy Barber 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Chase and Colin Bowman beat Jake King and Jack Morton 6-1, 6-2 at first doubles and Wagner and Goodman beat Miles Stafford and Brandyn Acevedo 6-1, 6-2 at second doubles.
On Friday, it was another sweep. DiCicco beat Cole Polistina without giving up a game, Steingard topped Danny Emmanuel 6-3, 6-0, and Barnes beat Santino Casale 6-3, 6-4,
The Bowmans split sets with Jake Holzman and Joshua Gatesman 6-2, 2-6, before prevailed 10-6 in the tie-breaker. Wagner and Goodman also won at second doubles without giving up a game to Ramien Weave and Phinnaeus Duffey.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
