Oceanside ready for playoff push

Ahead of this weekend’s Nassau County boys’ varsity tennis tournament, hosted by Oceanside, the Sailors (8-2 overall) were running neck-and-neck with both Garden City (9-1) and Hewlett (7-3) atop Nassau County Conference II-B with only the first- and second-place teams earning berths in the two-day event.

With a rescheduled match from an earlier rainout thrown into the mix, Oceanside had four matches in five days during the final week of the regular season, including rematches with both the Trojans and the Bulldogs, the only two teams to defeat the Sailors in conference play.

Entering the final week of play, the Sailors were riding a three-game winning streak with back-to-back 7-0 wins over Calhoun last Saturday and MacArthur on May 2, and a 4-3 win over Kennedy on April 20. “We’re in the hunt,” coach Barry Kubit said. “It’s been a pretty successful season.”

The strength of the Sailors has been both depth and its doubles units, which have been shuffled several times during the season, yet every member of the team still boasts a record of at least .500. The No. 1 team of juniors Jason Denrich  (10-0 overall) and Tom Wollweber (7-2) just started playing together this spring, though it would be tough to tell that by the way they work together on the court. At 6-foot-3, Wollweber’s size makes him a force at the net, while Denrich has a strong serve and is good with ground strikes.

The No. 2 doubles team of senior Jason Zagorski (7-1) and junior Matt DeGroot (9-1), like the No. 1 team, has been a powerhouse. “They both have good ground strokes and keep the ball in play,” Kubit said.

Junior Zach Camileri, at 9-0, is one of two undefeated Sailors, and he’s been teamed primarily with senior Evan Davis, who’s a sparkling 7-1 himself. The fourth doubles pairing of seniors Ryan Kane (8-2) and Andrew Hawk (4-3) has also been a spark on the scoreboard. “The fourth doubles has had a lot more success than a lot of schools,” Kubit said.