Westfield Defeats Scotch Plains in Boys Tennis

Scotch Plains-Fanwood High boys tennis coach Gary Wasserman can't say enough about Westfield.

For one, he's a Westfield native, and his children played tennis for Blue Devils' coach George Kapner, a good friend of his.

"Westfield takes it to another level," Wasserman said. "They take tennis to the next level. They have their own coaches. They just love the sport. It's really a different place."

The Raiders gave it their best Friday in Westfield, but fell to the powerful Blue
Devils, 5-0. Scotch Plains-Fanwood's record fell to 1-3, while the Blue Devils upped
theirs to 6-0.The Raiders' first singles player Dan Nizri lost to Justin Snyder 6-1, 6-1; second singles Steve Bello fell 6-0, 6-0 to Scott Bernstein and Ezra Klemnow dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision at third singles to Alan Chu.

"My guys showed up," said Wasserman. "Westfield is just a far superior team."

Scotch Plains-Fanwood's doubles teams of Eric Leyden and Evan Shlissel fell 6-2, 6-3 to Max Mancini and Josh Simmons, while Kyle Douglas and Mike Riesenberg lost 6-2, 6-2 to Jake Harris and Scott Thompson.

"We're an above average team that happens to be playing a brutal schedule," Wasserman said. "But, you know what? The kids are having fun. That's the most important thing. They're a great group of kids."