SHS Varsity Tennis Team Plays Heated Match Against Greely

The matches were held on the high school tennis courts.One could taste the vitriol in the air at the SHS Boy’s Varsity A tennis match last Monday. The raiders faced off against arch rival Horace Greely in a game dominated by screeches, grunts, and anticipation. The victor would secure the number one seed in the section one playoffs, a coveted position that was to be decided on the court.

The match took place on an unseasonably warm mid afternoon in May with clear skies. After a quick meeting and pep talk, each player grabbed their rackets and separated into their respective matches.

It was a bit of a rough start, with Scarsdale losing three matches to Greely. But not all was lost. Tennis captain Luke Smith (’18) was victorious in first singles, toughing out the #1 singles player at Horace Greely. Also victorious was Jordan Ziffer (’19) and George Brady (’19) in fourth doubles, beating out their Chappaqua opponents. Nikolay Sahakyan (’20) came down from a set and break to even the match score at three a piece.

These victories made the game extremely contentious, and it came down to first doubles. Captains Suhas “Su” Vennam (’18) and Gus Thompson (’19) faced off against Greely’s top doubles team. The first set was close, but lead to an ultimate 3-6 Scarsdale loss. Suhas and Gus, however, weren’t going down easy, and proceeded to dominate Greely to a 6-3 victory in the second set. Now, it was the final set. The tiebreak. Suhas and Gus had laser focus, but sometimes even lasers break. After a valiant effort, Suhas and Gus fell to the first doubles greely team 6-10, which proved to be the critical mass necessary to tip scale over in favor of Greely, giving Greely the first seed in the section one playoffs, and Scarsdale the second.

On the loss, Suhas said “Well our team has been injured all season, especially at the top of the order with our singles players. Now that we are healthy, I feel like we could beat any team we face. We gained confidence from the Greeley Match, even though we lost. The score was close; we lost that match by a few points coming from my doubles match. If we close out matches, then we should be fine. The whole team is confident, if we meet in the playoffs, that we can beat them. I feel comfortable with the team currently. And if we just focus on each individual match. Then we should be fine”.

Although Greely was victorious on Monday, Scarsdale pulled off an impressive 8-3 season, allowing them to continue into the playoffs. Last Friday, the raiders played their first playoff match against Pelham and swept 7-0, demonstrating their true power as a team. As Suhas said above, the playoffs also give the opportunity for the two teams to potentially face off again if both are successful, perhaps allowing for the two rivals to truly determine who is the victor of the conference.

Photo courtesy of Village of Scarsdale.