Syosset Beats Roslyn To Win Second Straight Nassau Division I Championship
Syosset captured the Nassau County Division I title for the second straight season as the Braves defeated Roslyn 5-2 at Hofstra University on Wednesday afternoon in a battle between the county’s top two seeds.
The victory puts them back into the Long Island Championship and into a matchup with Commack on Monday, June 3 at Smithtown East.
“Our guys don’t get too high or too low, they are very committed, so we’re going to enjoy today and get back to work tomorrow,” said Syosset head coach Shai Fisher. “We have a great opportunity in front of us, a lot of people didn’t think we’d get this far, which I know a lot of guys on the team took personally, and they don’t want to let this chance slip away.”
In Wednesday’s county final, Roslyn would jump ahead as Ethan Solop won 6-1, 6-2 at first singles to give the Bulldogs the early advantage. But Syosset would respond with a 6-3, 6-1 third doubles victory from Grayson Prince & Veyd Trivedi to bring things level.
The two teams continued to trade matches with Roslyn’s Brian Toh & Kyle Law triumphing 6-4, 6-4 at second doubles, while Svid Chadha & Ansh Jolly posted a 6-0, 6-4 victory at fourth doubles.
Syosset then began to pull ahead, with Aayan Mehta holding on to win 6-3, 6-3 at third singles to bring the Braves within one flight of sealing the county championship.
“We’ve been in a similar spot so many times, it almost becomes like a ritual to you, especially mentally,” said Devan Melandro, who was battling in the second set of his second singles match when Syosset moved ahead 3-2. “The most important thing in a match like this is mental toughness, because you can be ahead 4-1 and in a blink of an eye you are down 4-5. I think being in these types of situations in the past helped me a lot.”
Using his experience as a clinching match, Melandro made sure to not give any opening for a comeback. After breaking to jump ahead 5-2, Melandro overcame a long deuce game on his serve to close out his match 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the Syosset victory.
“If I lost that deuce game, who knows what could have happened,” Melandro added. “So I think that experience definitely helped me today. I’m so blessed to be a part of this team, winning these types of championships, it’s such a great thing to be a part of.”
The first doubles pairing of Spencer Keschner & Jacob Prince held on to win 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 to round out the scoring.
“We’re super excited to go back to the Long Island Championship,” said Keschner, a co-captain. “I’m a senior and this is our third in four years, and we’re excited for the opportunity. There’s nothing better than pressure matches.”
While Syosset prepares for a showdown with Commack, Thursday’s match brought an end to the season for Roslyn, one that did not end the way it wanted, but one that was successful nonetheless.
“I can confidently say that we gave everyone in the conference our best shot,” said Justin Sherman, a senior who played first doubles alongside fellow senior Cayden Shen. “This team is a family and these guys are my brothers, and we played this season for the brothers we lost last year as well as [Ethan] Solop’s father, so it really meant a lot to us. Unfortunately we came up a little short, but I think and hope that we made them proud.”
