SP-F Boys Tennis Falls to Mendham in North 2, Group 3 Tournament

The expected happened Wednesday for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys tennis team. The Raiders traveled to Mendham and lost 5-0 in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III tournament.

The Raiders fell to 8-12 with one match in the season remaining Thursday at home with Summit. Mendham, ranked among the better teams in the state, improved to 15-5. Mendham is the No. 2 seed in the section behind powerful Millburn. Scotch Plains-Fanwood was the No. 10 seed.

"Their first three players are heavy hitters and they have really gotten good
coaching," said Raiders' coach Gary Wasserman, whose team advanced by beating No. 7 seed Warren Hills. "We really can't compete with a team like that. It's reality. They have a great team, a really great team. Their No. 1 and No. 2 are incredible. You're talking about one sport athletes here."

Raider senior Dan Nizri lost 6-1, 6-0 to Tony D'Angelo at first singles and senior
Steve Bello fell at second singles 6-1, 6-0 to Eli Samaan. Junior lefty Ezra Klemow lost 6-1, 6-1 to Ray Chase at third singles.

The second doubles team of juniors Eric Leyden and Evan Shlissel lost 6-3, 6-3 to
Chase Matthijssen and Nirav Shah. Mike Rosencheck and Charles Cummings lost 6-2, 6-0 to Jeremy Holzman and Rishi Shah.

"We had some opportunities," Wasserman said.

The coach said he told his team on the way to Mendham to have fun.

"We had nothing to lose," he said. "Nobody was expecting us to win. I told them to go out there, relax and have some fun."