Hawks persevere to win competitive GMCT
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

SCOT PILLING staff Eric Finkelstein and his J.P. Stevens teammates won their first GMC Tournament title since 2000 last weekend at Middlesex County College in Edison.

EDISON - For the first time since the 2000 season, the J.P. Stevens High School boys tennis team are the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament champions.

In a three-way tie for the lead with South Brunswick and North Brunswick heading into the final day of competition, Stevens took home titles at No. 3 singles, No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to claim the outright title with 15 points. South Brunswick and North Brunswick finished in a two-way tie for second with 12 points apiece.

The win for Stevens also marked the first time in school history both the boys and girls teams took home GMCT titles in the same school year. The girls won the event for a second straight season in the fall.

The No. 2 doubles team of senior William Terry and sophomore Dan Nguyen came off the court first on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over South Brunswick's Guha Balakrishnan and Najeeb Hussein.

"William and Dan played them earlier in the season in a three-set marathon, so we knew it'd be a close match," Stevens head coach Ellen Pisano said. "It was the first match Dan and William played together, and you can tell that in that week and a half that they have improved tremendously. They had no problem at all in this rematch."

Next off the court was the No. 1 doubles team of Josh Safran and Steve Baum. Baum and Safran beat Eric Levi and Sahil Sheth of East Brunswick 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

"They had all the confidence in the world in themselves," Pisano said. "They won a tough, three-setter in the semifinals that gave them a real lift."

In the semifinals, Baum and Safran beat the North Brunswick team 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

"They were down 3-4 and love-40 in the third set of that semifinal match, and they rallied back for the win," Pisano said. "When it went to a third set in the finals they knew they could pull it off. They ripped in that final set and went back to their game and won it in a quick 6-1 set."

With the doubles teams pulling off wins, the pressure was lifted off of the Hawks' No. 3 singles player Victor Wu.

"Victor doesn't like playing under pressure and he was relieved when our doubles teams came off the court with wins," Pisano said. "He knew what was happening on the other courts, and this gave him confidence, and he played well in the third set."

Wu beat North Brunswick's Amit Singh 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the title, while No. 1 singles player Eric Finkelstein won the consolation match to take third place. Finkelstein beat last year's tournament champion Gaurab Singh 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.

"That was a big win for Eric," Pisano said. "He had never beater Gaurab before, and they have played a number of times over the years."

Just back from injury, the Hawks' No. 2 singles player, Paul Nguyen, was a victim of a tough draw and lost to the tournament's No. 2 seed from Piscataway in the second round 6-2, 5-7, 3-6. Nguyen opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Andrew Musyoka of Sayreville.

"Paul played his best match of the season to open the tournament," Pisano said. "A lot of GMC coaches had not seen Paul play this year, and that hurt his chances of getting a higher seed. He played well."

The Hawks enter this week with a record of 7-2 with their only losses coming against North Brunswick and Hillsborough.

"It was a nice surprise for us to win the tournament," Pisano said. "As each day went by I thought it was looking good for us, and it was great for the guys to pull it off."

Stevens will travel to Piscataway, the home of No. 1 singles champion Chidi Gabriel, for a 3:45 p.m. match today before ending the week with back-to-back matches with Old Bridge on Thursday and Friday. Friday's match is home and scheduled for a 3:45 p.m. start.