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06/25/2016 12:00 AMThe Westbrook boys’ tennis team made some nice strides in its first season with Head Coach Dan Shapiro this spring. The Knights finished in third place in the Shoreline Conference with a record of 15-5, which marked a four-win improvement from the 2015 campaign.
“The season went well. I set high expectations purposely for the players and, for the most part, they played up to them,” said Shapiro. “There were three main areas I stressed to them all season and those were skill development, match strategy, and mental toughness, which is a huge goal of mine, and I think the team did better in all three phases as the season went on.”
Westbrook received great performances throughout its lineup in the recent season. Junior No. 1 singles player Gus Marx won seven matches while facing the conference’s top competitors and earned an All-Shoreline First Team nod by playing deep into the league tournament. No. 2 singles player Dave Amendola finished the season at 11-7, No. 3 Dylan Martinson had a record of 11-8, and No. 4 competitor Jason Raunikar was an impressive 14-4. All three of those athletes were juniors and Nate Comment, a freshman, posted a team-best record of 16-3 from the No. 5 singles spot.
For the Knights’ doubles teams, juniors Austin Herzy and Phil Hartzell went 12-4, advanced to the Shoreline Tournament semifinals, and were voted Second Team All-Conference. The No. 2 tandem of senior Caleb Wood and sophomore Kevin Dickey went 11-4.
Coach Shapiro felt that the tight-knit chemistry among his athletes played a pivotal role in Westbrook’s success this year.
“One of the reasons the team performed well was because they really liked each other and are friends off the court. It was a very close team with great camaraderie,” Shapiro said. “Also, the parents made the biggest difference of any team I’ve ever been around. They had team dinners, which brought the guys together even more, and they supported my high expectations, which doesn’t always happen.”
Coach Shapiro was impressed with something he saw from his squad during a match at Morgan on April 22. Westbrook brought a 4-3 record into the contest and found itself in a 3-3 deadlock against the Huskies. The team of Wood and Dickey were down a set in the deciding match, but battled back to take the second set. In the third and final frame, Westbrook’s duo rose up and won 7-5 to earn a victory for themselves and the Knights, who would go on to win their next seven matches.
“That was a real springboard for us,” said Shapiro. “It was only their second match together as a team and Caleb, who’s a senior, but hadn’t played before—we actually had to order him a racquet—and Kevin is only a sophomore. They could have given up, but they fought and had the mental toughness to find a way together to get the win. They didn’t turn on each other, which is crucial in doubles, and they persevered.”
Wood and Dickey wound up winning Westbrook’s Most Improved Award, while Comment took home the Coach’s Award for his excellent freshman season.
“Nate is extremely coachable, had the team’s best record playing varsity singles as a freshman. He has a great work ethic and can take criticism and advice and incorporate that into his matches, which is impressive for a freshman,” Coach Shapiro said. “And although Dylan Martinson didn’t win an award, he was fundamentally committed to tennis and helped stabilize the team from the No. 3 singles spot.”
Another highlight came when the Knights’ top two singles players paired up in the Class S State Championship. Marx and Amendola were seeded 15th and advanced to the third round before losing to the No. 2 seed from East Catholic, which went on to win the tournament.
All of these achievements bode well for the Knights in the future as they are only losing Wood to graduation and will return all three of their captains in Marx, Amendola, and Martinson. For next season, Coach Shapiro is hopeful that Westbrook can overtake the this year’s top two teams in the Shoreline Conference in Old Lyme and Old Saybrook, which both went 19-1.
“This season, we wanted to compete with Old Saybrook and Old Lyme and, in the end, they were clearly better,” Shapiro said. “I stressed to the kids that we are not going to win [Shorelines] next year [just] because they are losing players. They have great programs who reload. The only way we will beat them next year is by getting better. They need to work hard in the offseason and be better in all three areas of development. Next year is an enormous opportunity to win Shorelines and, if they commit to developing, we have an opportunity and that is all you can ask for.”
While Coach Shapiro is excited about the prospects of next season’s team, he also took a moment to reflect on his first year running the show.
“I loved it. I knew a lot of the boys from coaching basketball and they are great student-athletes,” he said. “They competed, worked at it, and I met with all of them about their own offseason goals and what to improve on. I love to push them to obtain the goals that they want. I loved it and it was a lot of fun.”
From the Sidelines
Westbrook’s wins this season came against North Branford (7-0), Portland (7-0), Valley Regional (4-3), Coginchaug (6-1), Haddam-Killingworth (7-0), Morgan (4-3), Cromwell (5-2), Haddam-Killingworth (7-0), North Branford (7-0), Coginchaug (6-1), Portland (6-1), East Hampton (4-3), Valley Regional (6-1), Morgan (6-1), and Cromwell (5-2).
The Knights also took losses to East Hampton (4-3), Old Lyme (4-3), Old Saybrook (6-1), Old Lyme (6-1), and Old Saybrook (7-0).