A Star-Studded Varsity Tennis Team

A Star-Studded Varsity Tennis Team

Wednesday, 27 April 2011 19:10

Last Updated: Wednesday, 27 April 2011 21:07

Published: Wednesday, 27 April 2011 19:10

tenniskaplan Scarsdale has a tradition for strong tennis teams, most years sending students to the sectionals and onto the states. In fact, last year, the Boys Varsity A team ended the season 13-1, dropping only one match to Horace Greeley. This year talent runs deep, with nationally ranked players on the team making the matches look more like games you see at the U.S. Open than on the Scarsdale High School courts. Though the season got off to a cold and rainy beginning, Scarsdale started strong, and before the spring break they were 4-0, winning matches against Mamaroneck, Cross River, Bronxville and Pelham. Hopes were high at the first match following the vacation against powerhouse Cold Spring Harbor on April 26th. This was a non-league match set up by the coaches to bring two top-ranked teams together. Parents, friends and coaches came out to watch some first-rate tennis as the teams faced off.

Playing first singles was junior Austin Kaplan. A tournament player Kaplan trains many days a week and travels to

Ben Fife

matches on the weekends as well. He is ranked 92 in the country. He faced Josh Levine, an opponent he knew from the circuit and played a challenging match splitting the first two sets 3-6, and 6-2, but losing the third set 6-0. Playing second singles was Ben Fife, the third Fife in a family of three boys, all gifted players. He also travels to tournaments on the weekends, and is nationally ranked. He fell to Eric Ambrosio, splitting the first two sets and losing in the third. The youngest player on the team is sophomore Jonny Baker, also a contender on the circuit. He is ranked 32 in New York and 626 in the country. Up to the Cold Spring Harbor match he had not dropped a game this season and on Tuesday he defeated Connor Dauer in two sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Playing first doubles for the team are the duo of co-captain David Goldberg and Thomas Kohn. Goldberg is a four year varsity player, who went to the states for the past two years, and Kohn spent last year at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Florida. Both are seniors at SHS and they played an athletic and well choreographed match, diving behind each other, and switching sides of the court with amazing speed. However, they also were defeated by Cold Spring

David Goldberg

Harbor, losing 6-2, 6-4. The second doubles team of junior Danny Somekh and co-captain and senior David Josselsohn were bested by their opponents in a three set match, but things went better for the third and fourth doubles teams. Juniors Jared Greenwald and Ian Rabin defeated Cold Spring Harbor in two sets, 6-4, 7-5 and senior Ben Bernstein and his partner, junior Andrew Gorobetz were off the court quickly, winning 6-0, 6-1. Also playing for Scarsdale are juniors Will Heffner and Andreas Landgrebe who together form another doubles team and junior Ben Shapiro, a singles player and another tournament contender.

On Tuesday, Scarsdale came away with their first loss of the season, at 4 matches for Cold Spring Harbor vs. 3 for

Gorobetz and Bernstein

Scarsdale. As of April 27, the team record is 5-1. On Thursday April 28th, the Raiders face Horace Greeley, which could be their toughest league match of the season.

The players’ enthusiasm for the sport, the team and Coach Jennifer Roane is evident and all the boys looked proud to be playing for Scarsdale. We wish them the best of luck as the season unfolds.