Weather no match for Southold tennis team

The result went into the books as a victory for the Ross School over Southold High School in a boys tennis match on Tuesday afternoon.

Yet the First Settlers still scored a major victory on the court themselves.

Following an afternoon downpour that threatened to postpone the Suffolk County League IV match-up, the team went the extra mile to make sure the courts were playable.

Forgoing tennis rackets for squeegees, and with the help of two custodians with leaf blowers, 10 tennis players cleared the water from the eight courts to make them manageable.

“We lucked out that we got it prepared,” Southold head coach Andrew Sadowski said. “We lucked out that it held so good.”

The Settlers were not as lucky against the Ravens, who swept all seven matches en route to a 7-0 victory.

“We played as well as we could have,” said senior Quincy Brigham, who teamed with Jaden Olsen in first doubles. “They’re just a really great team. They are really solid, like all the way through.”

All things considered, it was a minor miracle they played at all.

After rainfall earlier in the day, school custodians had ensured the courts were ready for tennis. But around 1:30 p.m., a downpour almost washed away the match.

“The sun popped out,” Sadowski said. “Then that big cloud came, and it came down again. We started scrambling. We got custodians to come out and work on it and the guys came out. Whenever we have little puddles, we just take turns doing it and just try to get it off and let the wind dry it. Thank goodness that’s what it did.”

Though the Settlers (6-5, 5-4) were the underdogs against the Ravens (9-1, 7-1), they wanted to compete with only a week left in the regular season.

“Ross was already on their way and we didn’t want to forfeit this match,” said senior co-captain Brendan Kilcommons, who was defeated by Ty Gelyjns in first singles, 6-0, 6-1. “We didn’t want to cancel it. We just wanted to get out here and play as much as we could, doing anything we really can to get this match going.”

Added Brigham: “I don’t think we’ve ever played with courts this wet. We’ve had to wipe them off before, but not like this.”

It certainly wasn’t perfect, but the playing surface was good enough.

“I was actually expecting a lot worse,” Kilcommons said. “I didn’t find myself to be slipping very often. But there definitely were one or two points where you could feel that it wasn’t exactly the court you’re used to playing on.”

The match was originally scheduled to be held at Ross. But since two team members, Brendan Mullen and Joe Zuhoski, were set to be inducted into the National Honor Society at the school during 7 p.m. ceremonies, the match was moved from East Hampton to the North Fork.

Brigham, the honor society chapter president, was slated to give a speech at the induction. Olsen, the vice president, and club members Kilcommons, Skyler Valderrama and Ben Jernick also were to attend. Seven tennis players are NHS members.

“It’s a really big deal,” Brigham said. “It shows that we’re not just a sport team, that we’re academically minded. That’s very important.”

Even if the results did not go Southold’s way.

Teddy Brodlieb defeated Evan Maskiel in second singles, 6-1, 6-2. Gabriel de la Maza beat Valderrama in third singles, 6-4, 6-0, and Max Kormely won over Zuhoski in fourth singles, 6-1, 6-0.

Leonardo Carmo and Nicolas Sanchez bested Brigham and Olsen in first doubles 6-0, 6-3. Alex Frohlich and Simon Aser defeated Jernick and Mullen in the second pairing, 6-2, 6-4, and Peter Hackett and Cicil McGlynn downed Noah Bensen and Brian Schill in third doubles, 3-6, 6-2 (11-9).

“They all are trained tennis players,” Sadowski said of the private school team. “They all have private lessons. That’s obviously a huge advantage.”

Despite the loss, the Settlers were hopeful that they could reach the county tournament this month. They will complete the regular season at Shoreham-Wading River Thursday before hosting Westhampton Tuesday, May 9.

“Every match has been competitive, no matter what the score sheet says,” Brigham said. “Everybody’s just been working their best. We’ve all been getting better throughout the season.”