HAMMONTON—A week that opened with a close loss to Egg Harbor Twp. (EHT) ended with a pair of wins for Hammonton High School’s boys tennis team as the Blue Devils continued their strong early-season play.
“We don’t have a lot of depth and some of our guys are playing up a little but they’re battling and giving a great effort,” Hammonton coach Steve Salvatore said.
Against EHT, Hammonton played well but dropped a 3-2 decision. Playing without second singled player Stanley Smith who is working his way back from an injury, the Blue Devils won at both first and third singles, while dropping both doubles matchups.
At first singles, Michael Brown won in straight sets against EHT’s Alan Mejia, 6-2, 6-4. The third singles match saw David Donnelly drop a first set tie breaker 6-7 (7-4), before rallying to win the second set 6-2 and the third 10-7.
In its next match, Hammonton shut out Atlantic City on the road, 5-0. In singles play, Brown needed three sets to defeat Jeronimo Ruiz 6-4, 1-6, 10-6. Eric Drach won at second singles, taking down MD Rahaman in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, and at third singles, Donnelly did not drop a game in a 6-0,6-0 win against Steven Dominguez.
Doubles action saw Kyle Privitera and Steven Zeng win a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 decision against Timmy Pham and Het Paraekh at first doubles and at second doubles, William Ordille-Smith and Jake Waddell topped Spencer Nguyen and Queven Nguyen -1, 6-2.
The week’s action ended with a 3-2 win against Cedar Creek on April 19.
Brown won at first singles, defeating Daniel Perez 6-2, 6-1. At third singles, Donnelly won against Justin Polk, 6-0, 6-1. Hammonton’s other win came at first doubles where Zeng and Privitera topped Finnegan Watson and Josiah Morales 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 10-7.
This week, Hammonton’s players will compete at the Cape Atlantic League championships.