Southold tennis hands SWR its first loss of the season

About a half hour after their teammates completed their tennis matches, Southold/Greenport’s Kyan Olsen and Matt McGunnigle were still toiling away in their second doubles encounter.

With the team score tied at three apiece, much was at stake — a home victory against Shoreham-Wading River on a brisk Monday afternoon.

Despite losing the first set, the Settlers duo bounced back and clinched the team win, 4-3. They defeated Theodore Misawa and Ethan Weng, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

After recording the winning point, McGunnigle and Olsen received applause from their teammates as Southold (2-1) handed the Wildcats (3-1) their first loss of the Suffolk County tennis season.

“When you look at the schedule, there are teams that you have to beat, [games] that you should be in. The team today, you never know,” head coach Mike Carver said. “But this was a good pickup for us. They have a strong team.”

McGunnigle and Olsen wound up having a strong day as they improved in their 90-minute match.

“We learned to play them in terms of their second serves weren’t that good,” McGunnigle said. “So, it was hitting it to the one kid.”

What made that victory doubly rewarding was the fact that Olsen, a junior, and McGunnigle, a senior, were competing at tennis for the first time this year.

“I’m still learning,” McGunnigle said. “I think we’re good athletes. We can pick it up quickly in just getting to the ball when we need to.”

Added Olsen: “I’m kind of relieved that we won. It makes the memory a little sweeter. I’m really new to this. It’s been what, three weeks that I have played? The same with Matt. It was fun that we can play together and get a win like that.”

In the short time McGunnigle and Olsen have been on the tennis court, they have meshed together quickly.

“It was nice to see things start clicking for them, especially two guys that haven’t played tennis,” Carver said. “I expect they’re going to carry this into our next match.”

Both athletes have been standouts in other sports: McGunnigle with the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck football team, and Olsen with the Southold basketball squad.

When it was time to decide which students would play singles and doubles, Carver felt that Olsen and McGunnigle would be perfect together.

“They’re just both super athletic kids,” he said. “You just try to pair up somebody who’s going to be stronger at the net, and then somebody’s got some strokes and play back. That’s the nice thing about doubles tennis. You get some athleticism. You can really do damage at the net. That’s what we did today.”

It certainly did not hurt that Olsen and McGunnigle are friends, having played sports together for years. Their parents are the godparents of each other’s sons.

“Our dads are best friends,” McGunnigle said. “We’ve known each other forever.”

It also did not hurt that both athletes are calm under pressure.

“I just learned that when it comes down to the pressure at the end, that we both have the same demeanor,” Olsen said. “We’ve played pickup sports, but never actually on a real team where it counts, where there’s pressure. I was kind of worried that it was going to get more intense, but we just kept calmer, which I liked.

“We’ve been dominating at spike ball for years. I think the chemistry piece, the biggest thing with that is that it gives you the freedom to make mistakes.”

Before the Southold-Shoreham match started, the Settlers already enjoyed a one-point advantage because Shoreham forfeited third singles after Wildcats head coach Matthew Epp moved one of his competitors to third doubles.

That did not work out. Southold’s Jason Rodriguez and Josh Uguna still won over Aiden Weng and Ryan Keneski, 6-2, 6-2. In fourth doubles, the Settlers’ Kyle Davis and Tyler Perry recorded a 6-0, 6-1 win over Leonel Castro and Grayden Luck.

In other Settlers matches, Evan Czartosieski lost to Ray Hidaka, 6-0, 6-0, in first singles, and Grady Brigham was downed by Kenzo Wentz by the same score in second singles. Clint Cornell and John Zuzzi were defeated by Kai Hidaka and Oscar Lieber in first doubles, 6-0, 6-1.

“First singles is a tough place to play,” Carver said. “Evan is a really strong player, but he’s facing every team’s best player.”