South Side Edges Garden City to Earn Conference II Championship
South Side and Garden City have been atop the Conference II standings all season long, and so it was no surprise that the two teams would go head to head in the Conference II championship, leading to some incredible tennis.
The Trojans spent the majority of the season in first place, but a late season surge from the Cyclones moved them ahead in the final week. Each team took care of business in their respective semifinal matches, setting up a bout between the two rivals for the championship.
In the two meetings during the regular season, South Side edged Garden City both times with 4-3 victories, so both teams entered Thursday’s championship knowing how good the opponent was.
South Side raced out a 3-1 lead on the backs of its singles play. Veterans David Reinharz and Max Kramer, along with newcomer Christian Ardito all picked up victories in their singles matches to give the Cyclones a lead.
However, Jon Granville and Charlie Cunningham, one of the top doubles tandems in the conference, defeated South Side’s Nolan Tiss and Tyler Davis in straight sets to bring the overall match score closer to 3-2.
So with three matches remaining South Side needed to find one court to clinch the match, but it would not be easy, as all three of the remaining doubles matches went into third and deciding sets. Even though South Side was in the drivers seat, it was anyone's match.
The second doubles tandem of Ryan Chelius and Danny Collins were in a third set against Drew Haggerty and Pat Bodovitz, eventually earning a break to take a 5-4 lead. With both teams watching, Danny Collins stepped to the baseline with a chance to serve out the match and earn the Conference 2 Title.
After several ferocious volley exchanges, it was 40-30 South Side. On championship point, Collins cracked a serve and Ryan Chelius poached across midcourt to put away a winning backhand volley into the alley which gave South Side the victory and their first Conference 2 Championship with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.
After a short celebration, the Cyclones sat down to watch the conclusion of the final two courts. At third doubles, freshman phenom James Ryan and clutch alternate Will Stern were able to close out their match 7-6, 5-7, 6-3. The Big Man Tennis duo of Billy Anthony and Jack McCarthy added the icing to the cake with a hard earned 5-7, 6-4, 10-8 victory to close out a perfect 14-0 season at the 4th Doubles position. South Side took the match 6-1 over Garden City and claimed the Nassau County Conference 2 Championship for the first time in their history.
