Friends Academy wins Nassau Small School boys team tennis championship
Friends Academy’s Russell Notaris defeated Wheatley’s Aaron Raja in the Nassau boys tennis small schools team final at Hofstra on Monday. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
When the last match reached its conclusion Monday on Hofstra’s blue tennis courts, second-seeded Friends Academy had swept No. 1 Wheatley, 7-0. And that completed a Nassau Small School boys team tennis championship run that was really a year in the making.
Wheatley beat Friends Academy, 4-1, in the 2022 final en route to claiming the state title in Division II.
“That was a big motivator over the summer,” Quakers senior captain Alistair Wright said. “I know I and everyone else on the team was training all year for this exact game.
“To come back and to be able to be in a position to win by even more of a margin is just a great feeling.”
Coach Owen Kassimir could see this coming from a now 15-1 team that also took the Nassau II-A title.
“I knew we had something special because the boys have been really close and tight this whole season,” Kassimir said.
About three weeks ago, he told his players, “We are a championship team. You just have to get out there and play.”
Friends Academy will play Suffolk champ Ross Thursday at Hofstra for a Long Island crown and a ticket to the Division II state final four.
“I think we should do fine there on Thursday,” Kassimir said. “And I think the state championships we should do well as well. … We can do it.”
Russell Notaris won, 6-3, 6-4, in first singles. The junior didn’t play for the Quakers last season, competing instead in USTA tournaments.
“But, honestly, it was a big mistake, but not because of the tennis, but because this team is honestly just a family,” Notaris said. “Everyone on this team loves each other.
“We’re not a great team because of one player. We’re a good team because we have so much depth and because we work so well together.”
William Bohner took second singles, 6-0, 6-0. Wright won third singles, 6-0, 6-1.
The doubles teams of Zachary Cohen and Daniel Duke (6-2, 6-3), Bryan Bin and Shuoming Chang (6-0, 6-0), Vedant Rawat and Vir Singh (6-2, 6-2) and Henry Koelmel and Ali Sayan (7-6, 6-0) won in straight sets, too.
So Wheatley finished 2-14 after going 19-0 in 2022. Just six players returned and the Wildcats moved from II-A to the tougher Nassau I.
“The better team won today,” coach Herman Lim said. “I’m proud of my guys playing as hard as they could.”
