John Jay Plays Together in Loss to Horace Greeley

Scroll to end for photos

On Wednesday April 8, John Jay didn’t do a lot of winning versus Horace Greeley. But there was still plenty of good tennis, and Matthew Marchini was the first to notice the possibilities.

“I like that the team is young and gives us a future,” said the senior.

First among them was Bradley Dallesandro, and his doubles partner had plenty of praise. “He’s very strong,” said Hudson Lutz.

So a 6-4, 6-3 loss didn’t look bad and Lutz refused to attribute the loss to mechanics. “I think we got in our heads a little,” said the junior.

Their first time together, the duo also had to get to know each other. “We had to learn how to get in the flow and move together,” Lutz revealed. “Once we got it going, it worked really well.”

The division of labor included, Lutz likes to kill at the net, while Dallesandro sets up the win on the baseline. “He’s got great ground strokes,” boasted Lutz.

The middle schooler agreed. “I got good spin,” said Dallesandro.

So the kill is within his purview too. “I like attacking the line when they charge the net,” he clarified.

As for getting more mileage out of his baseline game, the Wolf knows he needs to start closing in. “I need to attack and stay at the net more,” reasoned Dallesandro.

On the young side too, Tom Partouche is already there with a strong forehand. “It lets me finish the point with my volley,” said the freshman.

A 6-1, 6-0 loss didn’t get him down, though, and he points to the upperclassmen for helping to keep his head up. “From the older guys, I’ve learned to always stay positive,” Partouche said.

Kalyan Ganesan felt the contagion rub off too. “We kept our enthusiasm up,” he described the teamwork with Matthew Neary.

Seeing the upside of their 6-0, 6-3 loss reinforced the point. “They were only making one more shot than us, and that decided it,” said Ganesan.

Otherwise, the teammates’ go-to was in sync. “I served deep and made it difficult to return,” said Neary. “So he could get an easy volley.”

Neary isn’t averse either to the pick me up a teammate like Ganesan can provide. “You always have someone to motivate you,” said the Wolf.

One court over, Darren Tang was on the same doubles’ page. “We worked together to stay positive and keep our heads up,” said the freshman.

On the attack, the mindset paid off. Trading long rallies, said Tang, “When we came to the net, we came out victorious, and that feels the greatest.”

At the same time, the winning points were not by accident. “We force our opponents to target our strengths and not let them go to our weaknesses,” Tang clarified.

Alongside, Tristan Williams remains in tune with Tang. “We pay attention to what’s happening on the court and try to coordinate,” said the freshman.

The sentiment aligns with his love of the game. “You have to think a lot, which I enjoy,” he said.

Double so for the double’s game. “You have to stay connected at all times to win,” said the freshman.

All by himself, Jonathan Marchini lost in the tiebreaker, but didn’t run out of gas. “My energy was very good,” said the junior.

He then was cautiously forward looking with the kinetics. “I’m a sectional's guy, but I got to get my stamina back,” Marchini revealed.

On the other hand, his brother Matthew played pretty strong throughout. But the tennis player wasn’t mentally right until he almost came back from a 5-2, second set deficit. “I stopped caring and was playing loose,” he said.

That left a titanic tenth game. Back and forth at deuce, Marchini made the most of the uncertainty. “When in doubt, push it out,” he joked.

The senior also enjoyed how the moment drew a crowd. “So having everyone on the side, and we’re just going at it,” he assured, “it’s fun.”

A win was not to be, and the long baseline bout had him accepting the bottom line. “He won the chess match,” said Marchini and the exciting finale concluded the day.

Click Image for Photos

Video Clips