Mounties head to semifinals
St. Raphael drops D-III title rematch to West Warwick
Mount St. Charles aces Toll Gate in Div. II matchup
WEST WARWICK — Having capped a dominant regular season that saw them go 11-1, the West Warwick boys tennis team kicked off their postseason play with a convincing 4-1 win over St. Raphael Academy on Friday in the Division III Quarterfinals. The defending champs took care of business on their home courts. Ethan Hoy and Ethan Schaffer took care of business at first and second singles, while the second doubles team consisting of Jacob Repoza and Dylan Wheeler, along with Tom Bellrose and Dmitri Vourvachakis at third doubles helping to seal the victory with the match coming to an end once the fourth point had been secured.
Ben Dube had the lone victory for the Saints, defeating Enrique Alvarez 6-4, 6-0 at third singles.
For the Saints, who saw their season come to an end with the loss, the 2016 campaign was largely a successful one, as they capped the regular season with a solid 7-6 mark.
It is never an easy task to take down the defending state champs, especially on their home courts, something head coach Scott Corain alluded to after the loss.
“The better team won today,” he said.
“It was a tough match. We knew coming in that is was going to be very difficult. We just wanted to come here, give it our best. They’ve got a really good team, very solid, very consistent,” he said.
As for their season as whole, though it had just ended, Corain said that there were a number of positives to take away.
“We had a lot of close matches,” he said, but added that a number of them slipped away from the team as well.
“We were in pretty much every match, they all gave it their best and it’s a tough ending to a good season.”
With Justin Jackson, Jiaqi Yang and Joseph Tumidajski graduating, the Saints will have the bulk of their team back for next year, one that Corain is already looking forward to.
“We should be pretty solid next year, I’m hoping,” he said.
The match got off to a slightly unorthodox start, with the third doubles team taking the court first due to a player’s work schedule commitment. Bellrose and Vourvachakis made quick work of their oppo- nents, dismantling Joe Tumidajski and Anthony Bateman, 6-1, 6-1, as the Wizards jumped out to the early 1-0 lead.
Ethan Hoy doubled the team’s lead with a dominant 60, 6-1 win at first singles over the Saints’Michael Wu, before Schaffer followed him up a short time later with his win over Yang at the second slot.
Needing to win at least one singles match in order to have a shot at an overall victory, Dube would come through for the visitors, as he notched a clutch 6-4, 6-0 win at third singles, but it would wind up being the only point of the day for the visitors.
With Mike Villanueva taking the court later than usual due to the third double’s situation, the match essentially came down to which doubles team could secure the clinching point first. Dennis Callaghan and Mario Gambardella looked primed to do so at first doubles, as they were just a single game away from defeating Justin Jackson and Morgan Collins, but would have difficulty closing the door. Instead it would be Repoza and Wheeler getting the job done at second doubles, posting a 6-2, 6-2 win over Luis Romero and Bryce Gillis.