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Boys' Tennis Drops Three

It's been a rough start to the season for the East Haven boys' tennis team, but the brutal first half of the schedule is behind the Yellowjackets and so they can focus on winning enough matches in the second half to hopefully qualify for the state tournament. The Yellowjackets sit at 2-8 after dropping all three matches last week and must win seven of their remaining 10 to reach the postseason.

Last week, East Haven lost to Cheshire 5-2, Amity 7-0, and North Haven 4-3.

Said Head Coach Rob Manghnani: "I still think with our remaining schedule that we can be competitive and get some of these close matches and win."

Against Cheshire, P.J. Warrick got the team's lone singles win at No. 2, winning 7-5, 6-4 over Nick Anthony. In the match, Warrick used his athletic ability to keep volleys going and get under his opponent's skin. After losing the first set, Anthony stormed off the court and was aggravated about his play, then was welcomed back by more of the same from Warrick for the second set.

"Conditioning is the biggest key," Warrick said. "I'm more athletic so I can run around and drag out the points a little bit. That's usually where most of the opponents get frustrated."

Joshua Levin and Kirk So won at No. 3 doubles for the Easties to round out their effort at Cheshire.

Against North Haven, the matches were tight, but the Yellowjackets fell just short. After singles play, the teams were knotted 2-2, with East Haven's wins coming at No. 2 and 4. Warrick beat Liam Sorge 6-1, 7-5 and Evan Schneer won his first match of the season, 6-3, 6-1, over Giovanni Petruzzielo at No. 4.

Warrick raced out to a quick lead in set one of his match, but broke his racquet in the second set, hampering his confidence.

"The kid's forehand was hard and, when I started losing, I tried coming back and hitting hard back," Warrick said. "After a couple of hard forehands, I looked at my racquet and was like, 'oh my God,' because one of the strings snapped off."

Teammate Joe Haesche lent Warrick his racquet to finish the match and he played well with his friend's racquet.

"PJ has been consistently playing at this level and winning matches for us, which is good," said Manghnani. "Even though he broke his racquet and had to play with a different one, he came through and ended up winning."

North Haven came away with singles matches 1 and 3, but both could've gone either way. Michael Dessureau lost in the top spot 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and Steven Carofano lost at No. 3, 6-4, 7-5.

In doubles action, Anthony Perrotti and So got the lone win at No. 3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6. Jake Fetzner and Sean Dugan lost at No. 1 doubles in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, and No. 2 doubles featured the most exciting match of the afternoon as Haesche and Jonathan Gioia lost 7-5, 6-7, 4-6 in a match that took two-and-a-half hours. In the first set, the duo went down 5-0 early before battling back and winning 7-5. As both teams continued to grind away, looking for the win, East Haven lost momentum and conceded games and sets to North Haven, eventually losing the marathon affair.

"When it gets down to the wire, it's all about momentum and some of these guys haven't been used to playing in these situations so it was a little difficult to pull through," Manghnani said. "Hopefully, this will help us in our next three-set matches."