Doubles Paces Schreiber Tennis in Win Over Jericho

After the Schreiber Vikings tennis team fell in its first four matches of the season, the squad has recovered nicely winning two of its past three matches.

The team received consistent and dominating doubles play in a 4-3 upset win over Conference I foe Jericho (4-4), who defeated the Vikings, 5-2, earlier in the season.

"We were really looking for doubles to take us to victory, and they did," Vikings coach Melissa Koulouris said.

Vikings second doubles players Luke Record and Ben Spivack came out on top in what turned into quite the dramatic match. Spivack was forced to take off his sunglasses, line judges were asked for and spectators were told to move away from the match.

"There were a lot of distractions," Record said. "But I just told my partner, Ben, to stay focused because after one distraction, he double faulted."

The pair recovered from the distractions and won 6-3, 6-1.

"After that we came back and won pretty quickly," Record added. "We worked on hitting it more cross-court, and then moving up closer to the net as a team."

First doubles players Matt Kellenberg and Dan Lee found themselves in a tight battle in their match as well, but bounced back to cruise to a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 win.

After watching the Vikings' three singles players fall, and the other three doubles teams pull out two-set victories, it came down to the third doubles team of Michael Seiden and Jared Alper.

Seiden and Alper cruised in the first set, 6-1, but fell behind, 4-3, in the second set. With both teams and all spectators lining the fence of their court, Seiden and Alper notched three consecutive games to win the second set — and the match.

"They clinched it for us," Koulouris said.

On the singles side, the Vikings were without their third singles player, eighth-grader Ben Rosen, who was out sick. Logan Schiff replaced Rosen on the roster and lost in his match to Chris Lam of Jericho, 6-2, 6-1.

Senior Jason Hubsher battled valiantly in his top singles match against Sam Lam of Jericho. Hubsher pounced on Lam's visible frustration to take the first set, 6-4, with the help of a slower, but spinning first serve that left Lam lurching forward to return it.

"I played well," Hubsher said. "A lot of people can't handle the spin."

But, after a change of shirts and a long delay before the start of the second set, Lam countered to take the final two sets.

"At the end I fell apart," Hubsher said. "At the end of the second set, I double-faulted four times in a game."

Sander Brenner also jumped on his opponent Mat Lam to take an early one-set lead. But quick starts for Lam in the second and third sets became too much for Brenner to overcome. Lam beat Brenner, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Last Friday's team win follows a 6-1 win on Wednesday against Great Neck South — a team the Vikings lost a tight match to two weeks before. The Vikings also lost to Conference I powerhouse Cold Spring Harbor on Thursday, 5-2. The two teams rescheduled that match twice due to weather.

Schreiber heads into its final three matches of the season with a 2-5 record. It will take on Great Neck North on Wednesday, Syosset on Saturday, and Cold Spring Harbor next Monday, May 10.

"Our doubles teams really pulled it out," Koulouris said. "And they came in with a lot of energy. They wanted to beat Jericho."

Match Results:

First singles: Sam Lam (Jericho) def. Jason Hubsher (Schreiber) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Second singles: Mat Lam (Jericho) def. Sander Brenner (Schreiber) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-0

Third singles: Chris Lam (Jericho) def. Logan Schiff (Schreiber) – 6-2, 6-1

First doubles: Matt Kellenberg/Dan Lee (Schreiber) def. Charles Rubenfeco/Jake Scawartzbaum (Jericho) – 7-6 (7-1), 6-3

Second doubles: Ben Spivack/Luke Record (Schreiber) def. Issaac Weiner/Zach Ceigaton (Jericho) – 6-3, 6-1

Third doubles: Michael Seiden/Jared Alper (Schreiber) def. Max Kaufman/Neac Marsaacc (Jericho) – 6-1, 6-4

Fourth doubles: Shaan Shivdasani/Krishin Shivdasani (Schreiber) def. John Reissman/Seta Kornberg (Jericho) – 6-1, 6-1