By Angela Watts
Managing Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
**Check below the story for highlights from all six singles’ matches**
Even when the chill hit, and even as Stuart remained locked in its closest — and longest — match of the season, there was a playfulness that permeated through the Raiders’ players and coaches.
And why not? This certainly seems to be their year.
Even without the services of their No. 1 seed, standout sophomore Justin Shane, Stuart (6-0) managed an 8-1 National District victory over previously-unbeaten host Edison (4-1) on Wednesday evening.
And while the Raiders did suffer their first and only single-match loss of the season — considering that every Stuart player had been moved up to the next-highest seed to counter Shane’s absence to attend an exclusive tournament in California — it was a major accomplishment.
“We absolutely knew this was going to be our toughest match so far, but we were definitely prepared for it,” said second-year Stuart Coach Matt Hills. “I think winning five-out-of-six singles matches tonight was a big deal, especially considering we actually didn’t have our No. 1 with us today. So that made it much more difficult … but they handled it and I’m very proud of them.”
According to Virginia High School League rules, an absent player can either be directly replaced by swapping someone new into that spot or every player can move up one position. Hills, for the past two matches, has chosen the latter, inserting No. 7 seed Mike Joyce into the sixth spot and then pushing the Raiders’ five other players up a slot.
“It’s definitely tough for them because they’re not used to playing at the level they were, but I think they did a really nice job,” Hills added.
Stuart junior Daniel Santos was the first to pick up a victory, defeating Edison’s No. 1 seed, Andre Phuong, 10-3, in the quickest match of the day. The Raiders quickly added victories in the No. 4-6 matches, getting decisive wins from juniors Soham Banerjee, Deniz Babaoglu and Joyce, respectively.
That left the Raiders needing only one victory from either No. 2 seed Abdula “Rocky” Al-hogbani or No. 3 seed Dee Jay Bletso to secure the team victory even before the three doubles matches began. Bletso battled back from an early deficit to get back on serve against Edison freshman Jimmy Nguyen at 7-6, but it was Nguyen who then rallied to close out a 10-6 victory with an exuberant “Yes!”
That left Al-hogbani to carry the load. And though his teammates were anxious behind the fence, they were also cheering — and playfully teasing — him throughout the match.
“Coach, coach?,” Al-hogbani’s doubles partner, Babaoglu, whispered to Hills with a sly smile. “Do you think he’s got it?”
He did.
Al-hogbani, who led big early, had to stave off one match-point by Edison sophomore Anthony Hong to knot the evening’s longest match at 10 and send it to a 12-point tie-breaker. Al-hogbani led 7-2 early in the tie-break, but Hong scored four of the next five points to close within 8-6.
That’s when Al-hogbani, who his teammates call “Rocky”, threw the knockout punch. He scored the matches’ final four points on a net ball that dropped, a beautiful cross-court shot and two Eagle errors to seal the Raiders victory.
Stuart went on to sweep the doubles round for the final margin.
“Rocky’s new to Stuart, he transfered from Ohio, and one of his biggest problems is that he has problems closing out the match,” Hills said. “And I think today, losing five or six games in a row really was tough for him. But he came back and ended up winning the tie-breaker.
“And that’s huge not only for his confidence as a singles’ player, but as he and his doubles parter, Deniz Baboaglo, go on to regional competition.”
And confidence will be huge for the entire Stuart team — because its experience is lacking. The Raiders’ top seven players are all underclassmen.
“Last year, when I started with this team, I was pretty surprised that all we had were freshmen and sophomores,” Hills said. “And last year we had some growing pains. We suffered through a lot of 5-4 matches … and even though we were young, we grew up a lot.”
And the addition of Shane, who transfered from the Potomac School, was certainly another reason to celebrate.
“He’s definitely a tennis player who has all of the tangibles,” Hills said of Shane. “He’s got the serves, he’s got the volleys and his baseline game is tremendous. He has the potential to play professionally some day. He’s just been a wonderful addition for us.
“We haven’t had him all the time because he’s playing in different tournaments, but he’s going to be a huge asset for us come regional time when we have to face teams like Robinson and Fairfax. He’s coming back next week and we’ll have him for the rest of the season.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS
Singles:
No. 1: Daniel Santos (Stuart) def. Andre Phuong, 10-3
No. 2: Abdula Al-hogbani (Stuart) def. Anthony Hong, 11-10 (12-6)
No. 3: Jimmy Nguyen (Edison) def. Dee Jay Bletso, 10-6
No. 4: Soham Banerjee (Stuart) def. Parker Smith, 10-2
No. 5: Deniz Babaoglu (Stuart) def. Phillip Phan, 10-5
No. 6: Mike Joyce (Stuart) def. Jacob Moore, 10-1
Doubles:
No. 1: Al-hogbani/Babaoglu (Stuart) def. Phuong/Hong, 8-4
No. 2: Santos/Banerjee (Stuart) def. Nguyen/Smith, 10-3
No. 3: Bletso/Chris Goslin (Stuart) def. Phan/Moore, 10-5
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