The Boys Tennis team has continuously grown in both size and skill over the last three years. Less than ten years ago, very few people around town even knew that West Milford had a tennis team.
The last time the boys had a winning record was in the spring of 2012, thirteen years ago. The boys’ record then was 13-6 and in the last three years, the team had a combined record of 14-39.
Now, the team has their best chance to win matches in a long time. As a team, the boys set the goal of winning at least 12 of their 21 matches. They also believe that everyone can and should make it past the first round of the County Tournament.
The team is coached by Ken Canali, and has three captains, Ethan Garcia, Lucas White, and Chris Rosner.
There are five different places on the team, three singles and two doubles. Lucas White is first singles, Ethan Garcia second, and John Parkin third. First doubles is Brendan Garcia and Christopher Rosner, with Brent Telesmanich and Maximus Ilyinskyy rounding out the team at second doubles.
The team opened their season with a bang against Paterson Eastside on April 1, with all singles players and doubles teams dominating their opponents. Brendan Garcia was unable to play, however the duo of Brent Telesmanich and Chris Rosner played very well, winning both sets by a score of six games to none.
Unfortunately the boys then suffered a loss as they hosted a strong Fair Lawn team on April 3rd, losing 5-0. Ethan Garcia fared the best, winning his first set 7-5 before losing both the second set (6-1) and 10-point tiebreaker (10-7).
The team hosted and swiftly beat Passaic Valley, winning by a 5-0 score. They then traveled down to Wayne Valley to take on the Indians. The boys fought hard, but once again fell by a score of 5-0. Both Ethan Garcia (3-6, 4-6) and John Parkin (1-6, 2-6) did what they could to compete, ultimately falling short.
The Highlanders got back on track on April 14, as they once again hosted Passaic Valley. They swept the Hornets for the second time, went to Lakeland and swept the Lancers. The team then faced a strong Passaic Team, getting swept, with close, hard-fought matchups by Lucas White and Ethan Garcia.
Trying to get back on pace for twelve wins, the Highlanders hosted Passaic, winning 4-1. This gave them a record of 5-3, and the team looked well on their way to achieving this goal. However, the team has lost their last two games, dropping them to 5-5 before going into the seeding meeting for the County Tournament, where each position hopes to secure higher seeds.