The Friends Academy boys tennis team had been in this exact spot for three straight years now.
But the two kids most responsible for making sure this season was different?
It was all brand new to them.
Vir Singh and Blake Doan should’ve been terrified.
Instead, they were excited.
“We knew it all came down to us,” said Singh. “And we knew we had to find a way to win.”
Friday afternoon at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Friends and Armonk’s Byram Hills were locked in a tight battle for the state small schools championship. After four matches were completed in the best-of-five final, the score was 2-2.
The third doubles match result would decide if Friends won its first state crown, or would be the runner-up for the third straight year.
Singh and Doan had never been under this kind of pressure before; a year ago, Singh wasn’t in the lineup for the Quakers, while Doan was on JV.
But in the third set Friday, down 0-2, the Friends’ duo rallied and staged an epic win, pulling out a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory to give the Quakers the crown and set off a raucous celebration.
Their win was the first of two Nassau County state triumphs Friday, as two-time defending champ Syosset easily three-peated, beating Bethlehem High School (near Albany) 4-0.
“They played as expected, actually, far better than expected,” said Friends coach Owen Kassmir. “Both of them played out of their minds, and I’m so proud of them.”
For Friends, who won its semifinal match, 4-1, earlier Friday, junior Will Bohner won his first singles match without losing a game, while Hudson Lee and Steven Seviroli posted a 6-3, 6-2 win at first doubles for Friends.
But Byram Hills won the other two matches, at second singles and second doubles, putting everything on the inexperienced shoulders of Singh and Doan.
“It’s nervous when you’re in between (points), but once you’re in it, that’s all I’m really thinking about, is the next stroke, the next putaway,” Doan said. “When the point’s done, the nerves all come back in.”
Despite getting down 0-2 in the final set, Doan and Singh rallied, starting to play more aggressively against Byram Hills’ duo of Ethan Adamsky and Nevin Dan.
Doan and Singh reeled off four straight games to go up 4-2, and when leading 5-3, Singh was able to serve it out. On match point, he waited for a lob to land and then smashed an overhead winner, setting off a raucous on-court celebration.
Bohner, who said he was “so nervous I could barely watch” from the stands, said he was confident in his team.
“These guys have grit and were so clutch under pressure,” Bohner said. “I know Coach wanted this so badly, and we wanted it so badly for him. This is such a huge deal for our school.”
While Friends’ match was dramatic, the boys from Syosset dominated and made quick work of Bethlehem in the large schools championship. After escaping with a 4-3 win over Horace Greeley in the regional final, a match that was the de facto state title match, the Braves easily dispatched Washingtonville in the semis, 7-0, before crushing Bethlehem in the title match.
In the four completed matches (once the result was known, the other three matches were stopped), Syosset lost just 13 total games.
Remarkably, it was third singles player Aayan Mehta who provided the clinching point for the fourth time this postseason; in the Nassau, Long Island and regional final matches it was Mehta who won the fourth match for Syosset.
“I think that shows he’s very calculating in how he plays and what he’s doing on the court,” laughed Syosset coach Shai Fisher.
“I saw everyone come over and I knew I had to finish things,” said Mehta, a junior who’s been a part of all three state-winning teams. “Honestly, each win gets harder to achieve. Our team gets better, but the competition gets better and pushes us every time.”
This year’s Syosset team returned all three singles players, led by No. 1 player Deven Melandro, but all four doubles combos were new.
After that, avoiding complacency and keeping motivation high is the key.
“Every year is different, but every year we want to set a precedent for the rest of the state, to show that we’re still the best,” said co-captain Veyd Triveti, one of six players who’ve been on all three state teams. “It’s important to us to keep this going, and show the younger [players] that they can achieve this.”
