The Bulldogs went into battle yesterday afternoon, against a very strong Westfield team that came into the match ranked #2 in the state. Drained from the previous day's match against New Providence, the Bulldogs were a relaxed, confident group. 

The team's 2nd doubles tandem of Alec Jiao and Michael Shin was defeated and Jason Katz at 3rd singles lost to one of the best 3rd singles players in the state. At 1st singles player Daniel Shutov won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, and so it came down to the two remaining positions.

At 2nd singles, Max Sacks dropped the first set in a tiebreaker, and at 1st doubles, players Francis Loh and Eric Rosengart won their first set pretty easily. However, the Westfield doubles team fought back to grab the second set, while over at 2nd singles Sacks was fighting back in the second set.

Coach Joe Iwanski provided this concluding report:
"In the end, the Westfield 1st doubles tandem, whom (Loh) and (Rosengart) had defeated earlier in the season in 3 sets, prevailed, handing them their first and only loss of the season, and clinching the match for Westfield.   Meanwhile (Sacks) gamely took the 2nd set of his match in another tiebreaker.  At that point, there was agreement to "halve" hispoint - in other words call 2nd singles a draw, since the team match was decided and Westfield has to play today. So we were defeated 3.5 - 1.5."

"But it was ever so close! We are all spent, physically and even more so emotionally after a really great run. This was a season to remember, and many thanks to all who cheered us on this entire season!"   

Key accomplishments achieved by this year's Boys' Varsity Tennis Team included the following:
> The team finished with a 26-4 record.
> The Bulldogs won their league title, finished 2nd in the counties, and won our sectional and group state titles.
>  The team placed 4 players on the All-County Team (3 on 1st team, 1 on 3rd team), and will likely place several players on All-State teams.

>  Daniel Shutov is currently undefeated at 21-0 and he is the #3 seed in the state singles tournament this weekend. His career record to date is 84-6 with 4 individual county titles.
>  Dynamic duo Loh & Rosengart finished, as a doubles team, at 23-1, and are generally regarded as on of the best doubles teams in NJ, with their only loss yesterday to another phenomenal pair.
>  Francis Loh finished his season with an overall match record of 29-1, and a career record, in 4 years of varsity tennis, of 79-12 with 3 individual Bergen County titles.

>  Eric Rosengart finished his season with an overall match record of 32-1. 33 matches played, 32 victories
>  Max Sacks has a match record to date of 23-4.  Coach Iwanski noted that when he finished his match yesterday, Sacks had worn through the sole of his shoe and his sock and was playing with one toe coming through the bottom of his shoe.

Click here to read more about yesterday's match.