Long Beach turns up aces

Long Beach’s boys’ tennis team was among the kings of the court in Nassau County this year, winning 11 of 13 matches while narrowly missing a conference championship.

The Marines, who recorded four-match winning streaks to start and end the season, won most of their contests in dominating fashion with three 7-0 sweeps and five 6-1 decisions. The team could have very well gone undefeated if it wasn’t shorthanded heading into a narrow 4-3 loss at Wantagh on April 17 and a 5-2 setback to eventual Conference 3B-champion Mepham (13-2) on May 1.

Long Beach’s win total was its most in three years and coach Sue Hirschbein-Bodnar credited that to her veteran players who learned and mastered the game during their years on the varsity squad.

“The kids worked very hard and I have six seniors who’ve been with me for four years and they really held their weight,” she said. “They did a very good job all year long, overcoming their nerves and they did their best.”

Senior Adam Leavitt was perfect on the season in first singles with an 11-0 mark and was credited with two other decisions via a walkover. The lefthander keyed the Marines’ lone 4-3 win of the season by rallying to defeat Malverne/East Rockaway’s Malik Brown -Boss 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 in the deciding match on May 2.

“The fact that he was just tireless on the court, he would wear you down,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “He just never gave up, he’s fleet of foot, very fast on the court and just had a lot of experience.”

Senior Jesse Scott also had 11 wins. He had a straight sets victory against Malverne/East Rockaway and finished the season with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over MacArthur’s Declan Guillespe five days later.

“He’s so smart on the court,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “He wears you down. If he’s not winning a game, he will change it to make it a winning game.”

Senior Blaise Derenze also had a solid year at 8-5.

The first doubles team of senior Adam Bahoui and sophomore Liam Shklyar went 11-1 when together and it showed with their high comfort level on the court all season. “They have a chemistry that is just amazing on the court,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “They work well together.”

Shklyar, who Hirschbein-Bodnar described as a “big asset”, will likely move up to singles next season.

Juniors Brett Weiner and Jared Starman comprised mostly of the second doubles pair who overpowered many of their opponents. Starman won all eight of his doubles matches, while Weiner went 11-1.

Long Beach also got strong contributions from sophomore Arjun Gupta and first-year player Noah Goren in third doubles and sophomore Zen Yokel and senior Eduardo Heymann in fourth doubles, as well as alternate Liam Thornton.

Losing six seniors is always a worry for coaches no matter what the sport, but Hirschbein-Bodnar is confident that the team will continue to play on a high level next season and be in the mix again for the conference title.