The White Plains Boys Varsity Tennis (WPBVT) team finished a successful season with a final 7-6 record, closing out a season full of clutch victories and great progress.
The Tigers began their season on March 24 with a home match against Yorktown, a team that would continue to test the boys later on in the season. After convincing wins in the doubles but falters in the singles, doubles 1 duo Max Pollio and Leo Tashman pulled out a super-tiebreak win, culminating in a game-winning smash by Tashman, as they won the match by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 10-4 to take the first win of the season.
After some tough losses to Fox Lane, New Rochelle and Rye, the boys pulled out a 4–3 win over a powerful Eastchester side, highlighted by the doubles 2 team of Brandon Archer and Luke Anselmo, who won both of their sets via the tiebreak.
The following day, a long drive to Yorktown with some very bipolar weather was the boys’ next big test. After facing some first set adversity, Archer won his match through the super-tiebreak, this time playing singles 3. Two more super-tiebreak wins followed Pollio and Tashman, as well as Anselmo and Landon Weiss playing doubles 2. Doubles 3 of Abraham Beals and Dan Appel held the fort down with a 7-5, 6-4 win, as the Tigers brought out the brooms with an overall sweep of Yorktown.
The Tigers proceeded to complete a sweep against Somers; Philip Yu and eighth-grader Marco Ciacci’s won at doubles 4 in Yu’s first match on the varsity level. Senior Captain Alex Porcelli pulled off two victories as well, and the singles 1 freshman Christian Bautista dominated.
The following week, the Tigers got revenge against the New Rochelle side that upsetted them prior. Despite New Rochelle’s singles 1 Alex Suhanitski dominating Section 1, White Plains snatched another 4-3 victory through an excellent performance from the doubles, with Gabe Racaniello and Preston Burrell-Smith winning convincingly at the doubles 4 position.
The penultimate match of the season against a strong Nyack side was jam packed with close sets. Bautista and Porcelli narrowly lost at their singles 1 and 2 positions, while Pollio ground out a 7-5, 7-5 win at singles 3. Doubles 2, 3 and 4 pulled out the win, with Jose Baldera picking up his first varsity appearance with a win at doubles 4.
To end the year, the Tigers had an opportunity to extend their season with a home win over Fox Lane, the winner guaranteed to be moving onto the team playoffs. Despite strong performances from Bautista as well as Kevin Rodrigues and Racaniello at doubles 4, fate was not in White Plains’ favor, and they lost 3 super-tiebreaks to finish the season with a 2-5 loss to their rivals.
However, the season wasn’t over just yet, as sectionals was right around the corner. Pollio and Tashman competed in the doubles end, with Bautista on the singles side of the bracket. The doubles, while putting up a solid effort, ultimately fell short in round 1 to a tough Edgemont side, 6-2, 6-0. Later that same day though, Bautista fought back after a first set loss to win on a late-night super tiebreak, his first sectionals win to top off his first sectionals match. Although he came up short against one of the top seeded players in the tournament in round 2, Bautista showed massive improvements across the board.
The end of year video, made by team managers Charlotte Flora and Margeaux Friend, encapsulates an incredible season for the boys, and can be seen on the team Instagram page.
A huge thanks to Coaches Golden and Ulloa for coaching our Tigers for yet another season. Best of luck to the seniors on their future endeavors!
