Whether it’s in the Mattituck High School hallways or out on the school’s tennis courts in the offseason during frigid weather, one is bound to see Lucas Kosmynka with a tennis racket in hand.
That explains a lot.
“He’s a student of the game,” said Cory Dolson, who succeeds Mike Huey as Mattituck’s coach. “He loves playing tennis. He’s the kind of kid who’s on the courts all year-round, when it’s cold. The kid has always got a tennis racket in his hand.” READ
It’s been such a long time since the Southold/Greenport high school boys tennis team won a Suffolk County playoff match that no one seems to know when the First Settlers last accomplished the feat.
Not even coach Andrew Sadowski, who has been coaching sports at the school for 25 years, could give an exact date. READ
What started as a stopgap measure turned into a championship.
It was a little before the halfway point of the high school boys tennis season when it was determined that it was time for a change. Southold/Greenport’s first doubles team of Mario Contreras and Devin Quinones, who had reached the Suffolk County Division IV quarterfinals last year, weren’t working well together. READ
In many respects, Luke Kosmynka’s season has mirrored that of the Mattituck High School boys tennis team. Both knew they were going to be competitive, they just didn’t know how competitive.
Well, both have exceeded expectations. The Tuckers (10-2, 10-1), who lost several seniors to graduation, are tied with Southampton for the Suffolk County League VIII lead and Kosmynka could not have asked for a better season as the No. 2 singles player. He is a perfect 11-0. READ
These identical twins with identical win-loss records don’t have identical playing styles, but they believe their tennis games are fairly similar.
Jacob and Xavier Kahn, Greenport’s only representatives on the Southold/Greenport boys team, make a good match for each other. Although Xavier has played first singles for most of the season, Jacob defeated his brother in a recent challenge match to take the No. 1 position away from him. READ
The top Tucker of them all is a genuine Tucker.
That would be Tucker Johansson, the first singles tennis player for the Mattituck Tuckers. A true Tucker in more ways than one, Johansson has made the considerable leap from playing third or fourth singles last year to the No. 1 singles slot this season. READ
Southold/Greenport has a good portion of its high school boys tennis team back, although the degree of difficulty could be a bit tougher this season. READ
It all starts with the serve.
In order to score a point, a tennis player needs to be able to put his serve in play. That can be a lot easier said than done, as was evidenced Monday in the first singles match between Mattituck’s Chris Waggoner and Eastport-South Manor’s Tim Jurgiewicz in Manorville. The two seniors had their moments when they struggled with their serves and other times when they looked spot on.
Sometimes it’s not whether you win or lose.
Sometimes it’s about playing in decent weather so you can play up to your potential and enjoy yourself as well.
Monday was a perfect day for sports, especially tennis, in Riverhead.
READ
Well, you can go home again after all.
At least that’s true for the Southold/Greenport high school boys tennis team, which will play all six of its home matches this season on the four courts at Southold High School. The Clippers will do so for the first time in 15 or 16 years, according to coach Andrew Sadowski.