Panthers Look To Hit Their Stride

The Edgemont Boys Varsity Tennis Team had a rocky start to the season, which began with a frustrating 5-2 loss to the Harrison Huskies on Wednesday April 6. Because they were on spring break, the team was missing a handful of starters. This meant different players had to fill the void left by vacationing team members. Junior Charlie Miner played first singles, and lost 6-1, 7-5. Miner was followed by regular third singles player Lenny Marlow, who stepped up and played second. Marlow's match was an absolute marathon that lasted over two hours and ended in a thrilling third set super tiebreak; unfortunately for Edgemont, Marlow fell just short losing 10-6 in the final set. Fourth doubles team Shane Englander and Ahmad Allen picked up the only doubles win for Edgemont. They battled back after losing the first set 6-0, and eventually won in a third set super tiebreak.
Team Record: 0-1.

The next match for the Panthers was their first league match against the Hastings Yellow Jackets on April 5. As expected, the Panthers dominated from top to bottom. Janoscar Kjellberg started it off with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory at first singles. Seniors Berber Jin and Krishna Saraf won their singles matches at second and third singles respectively. Miner and Jain took care of business at first doubles, as did Conway and Kaul at second. Englander and Shifren struggled early in the first set, falling behind 5-0; but they battled back to win 7 straight games and took the first set 7-5. They went on to pick up an easy second set victory, adding to the point tally for Edgemont. Hoesterey and Allen ended the match in a dominating fashion, winning fourth doubles 6-0, 6-0 in a match that lasted no more than 30 minutes.
Team Record: 1-1.

The Panthers' next opponent was one of the strongest teams in the section; the Mamaroneck Tigers on April 11. The Tigers returned a tandem of brothers, the Crawfords, who last year captured the first ever doubles state title for Mamaroneck. To the Panther's pleasant surprise, the brothers were not at the match for personal reasons. Despite this, Edgemont still knew this would be a tough match (Edgemont lost to Mamaroneck twice last year), and a tough match it was. Edgemont lost the match by a count of 6-1. The lone bright spot for the Panthers was a win by Sarvesh Kaul and Krishna Saraf at second doubles. When asked about the match, Kaul said, "Picking up the first set is always big. It gave us great confidence as we looked to close it out in the second set." Kaul and Saraf were able to finish it off in the second, winning by a final score of 6-3, 7-6.
Team Record: 1-2.

The Panthers will have to refocus for next week's matches that include league rivals Pleasantville and Keio, as well as a difficult non-league match vs. Scarsdale. When asked how the team should handle the loss to Mamaroneck, senior captain Aaditya Jain said, "We have to take it on the chin and use it as motivation to get better so that when we play them again at the end of the season, we can play up to their level".

The Panthers may be disappointed with how the season has started, but they have plenty of matches left to reestablish themselves as one of the top teams in Section 1.