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05/06/2017 12:00 AMThe North Haven boys’ tennis team is building a winning tradition with Head Coach Don Hurley. The Indians have qualified for the Class L State Championship the past three seasons and, last week, they took a big step toward making it back to states by winning both of their matches. North Haven posted a 5-2 victory at Sheehan on May 1 and followed that up with a 7-0 home shutout over Foran on May 3. With its record of 5-5, North Haven needs to win four of its last eight matchups to clinch its fourth straight trip to the Class L bracket.
Coach Hurley feels that another berth in states would be a fitting finish for a group of seniors who’ve taken the program to the next level through both their play and personality.
“My seniors that I’ve had since they were freshmen have raised their tennis game to a higher level and I am proud that they are going to go out as winners,” Hurley said. “The makeup of the team is that they believe in the experience of playing well as a team. The fact that they’ve been able to achieve some of our goals the last three years goes to the show the unselfishness of these players. They never complain if I change the order of the lineup, and they cheer on the other players on the team when their matches are over or are waiting for their match. They’re a very cohesive unit.”
One of Coach Hurley’s advantages when formulating his lineup is that he can either have senior captains Johannes Eisenberg and Jack Steinman play No. 1 and 3 singles, respectively, or pair them up at the No. 1 doubles position. As a duo, Eisenberg and Steinman own a record of 2-2, having netted a three-set win against a strong tandem from Amity, plus a straight-sets victory versus Branford. Steinman was an All-SCC Division II doubles player last year. In terms of their singles matches, Eisenberg is 4-1, while Steinman has a mark of 5-1 this spring.
“They are a team that meshes very well, and they both pick up on the few weaknesses that the other one has. They talk to each other and have a wonderful sense of ball placement and positioning on the court. They have tennis sense when they work as a team and they fit very well together,” said Coach Hurley. “When they go it alone in singles, they have excellent records. Johannes’s game has improved 100 percent. He has gotten compliments from every coach we’ve played as to how his game has improved, for both singles and doubles. Jack is a true athlete and he is able to feed off his hand-eye coordination and determination to hang with and beat some excellent tennis players. Jack has a strong desire to win. He’s a fierce competitor.”
Steinman was at the No. 2 singles spot and captured a 6-2, 6-3 victory when North Haven notched its 5-2 win at Sheehan last week. Fellow senior captain Billy Sgro won a 6-2, 0-6, 6-1 decision in the No. 3 singles match. Nick Cristante stepped up to No. 1 singles and lost a marathon match by the final of 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Fellow sophomore Max Petruzziello also gave a great effort in his No. 4 singles contest, which he lost 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
“This match could have gone either way, especially when we had to split sets and come back and win the third set,” Hurley said. “The Sgro match was the pivotal point in turning the match around.”
The Indians swept the three doubles matches while defeating Sheehan as their No. 1 pairing of juniors Matt Carroll and Riley Powell prevailed 7-5, 6-0; the No. 2 team of senior Mike Gagliardi and sophomore Quinn Dallai won 6-2, 6-0; and junior Ryan Griffiths and sophomore Jake Barra were victorious, 6-4, 10-8, in the No. 3 contest.
Two days later, North Haven hosted Foran and won all seven matches on its way to the 7-0 whitewash. Eisenberg won a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 decision at No. 1 singles; while Cristante, who Hurley said “has improved his game 100 percent from playing tennis all year,” claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 2 match. Steinman was a 6-4, 6-4 victor at No. 3 singles, with Sgro posting a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 4.
On the doubles court, Carroll and Powell improved to 5-5 with an 8-0 triumph, Gagliardi and Dallai earned their third victory by winning 8-3, and Petruzziello and freshman Laekhram Singh won by an 8-2 margin for the No. 3 match.
“Matt and Riley have been playing very well together and are an integral part of the team because we are losing four seniors...I think a notable win was their 6-1, 6-1 win in the match we lost against Branford and also their Sheehan victory,” Coach Hurley said. “Mike and Quinn were a late pairing in the season and started to jell together in our last two matches. Max goes between singles and doubles and is an up-and-coming player who will be a strong part of our rebuilding program for next year.”
Coach Hurley also noted the contributions of Griffiths, a junior who alternates between the singles and doubles lineups. With the Indians feeling fine heading into the home stretch, Hurley expressed his appreciation for how his athletes are making 2017 such a memorable season and adds that he hopes they continue playing tennis long after their high school days are done.
“This has been an experience, on a scale of 1 to 10, which is obviously an 11. This is a great group of young men that I’ve worked with the past four years,” Hurley said. “One thing we try to teach them is that they are picking up a sport they can play for the rest of their lives. They’ll meet many new friends, and it will help keep them healthy with exercise and give them a healthy outlook on life.”
• Don Hurley is in his seventh year as the head coach of the North Haven boys’ tennis team.
• Prior to last week’s victories, the Indians defeated Foran (7-0), East Haven (6-1), and Lyman Hall (7-0) this season.
• For the rest of it schedule, North Haven has matches against Law, East Haven, Xavier, Branford, Cheshire, and Wilcox Tech.