Lions fall from tennis playoffs
West Warwick defeats Lions to advance to D-II semifinals
Lincoln drops postseason match against W. Warwick
LINCOLN — The West Warwick tennis team has proven yet again that their transition this year to Division II was a challenge that they were more than up for.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Wizards took on the Lincoln Lions in their biggest test to date, the D-II quarterfinals. With all seven matches taking place at once, it was a race to see which side could secure four points first. Victories at second and third singles and first and third doubles enabled the Wizards to come away with a 4-1 victory, advancing them to the semifinals where they will now face No. 2 Prout.
“Every match was a battle. Our second doubles wasn’t a really good match, but the rest of them were all super close – could have gone either way,” West Warwick head coach Greg Gonsalves said of his team’s win.
The Wizards prevailed over the Lions, 4-3, in their only other meeting on May 1, but Lincoln’s 10-3 record secured them home court advantage against 9-4 West Warwick in Tuesday’s playoff showdown.
Ethan Schaffer got the visitors on the board first with a routine 6-1, 6-0 win at second singles over Nick Phommachanh, but there was plenty of competitive tennis left to be played. The Lions answered back with the equalizer at second doubles, as Ryann Cames and Ryan Fish took down Dimitri Vourvachakis and Kevin Herold by a score of 6-4, 6-1, evening the overall match up at 1-1.
The remainder of the day’s matches, including the two that did not finish were all close contests.
“It just seemed that we converted on the big points,” Gonsalves said.
Mario Gambardella battled his way to 7-5 victory in the first set over lefty Dylan Katz before turning that momentum into a 6-0 win in the second. Moments earlier, Jeffrey Mendoza and Spencer Godfray toppled Jacob Viera and Zach Heineman at third doubles, 6-2, 7-5, helping to give the Wizards firm control.
It would be Thomas Bellrose and Guillermo Barron officially capping the win for West Warwick as they edged out Lincoln’s Stefan Minyayluk and Evan Voyer 7-5, 6-4 at first doubles.
“It feels great. We were behind, but we just kept our heads up, kept our heads in the game and we just finished strong,” Bellrose said of the win.
His partner knew that they had it within them all along.
“We know we’re a good team. We just worked together and made it. Still undefeated on the season,” he said.
Ethan Hoy looked as though he might be the one to secure the team victory at first singles, but was beaten to the punch by Bellrose and Barron.
The No. 1 singles player held off a late rally in the first set against Michael Crawley for a 6-4 win and was just one game shy of a win in the second when play halted.
Dylan Wheeler and Kevin Rao were locked in a tight match at fourth singles, with the two headed for a third set once the overall score reached 4-1.
Lincoln coach Matthew Pavao, while disappointed by the end of his team’s season, highlighted the competitiveness between the two clubs.
“I mean, it was one match and last time we lost to them it was 4-3. It was not like we came in expecting an easy match,” Pavao said.
As a whole, this season has a been an encouraging one for the team and one he feels they should be proud of.
“I can’t complain. What I told the kids is, we improved on our record and in our play. We are a better team than we were last year. That’s all you can ask for.”