Clearview boys tennis coach Kevin Hanrahan has a relatively new weapon to deploy for Monday’s huge Tri-County Conference Royal Division showdown at Kingsway.
His second doubles team of juniors Joey Lindenbaum and Jackson Dickler wasn’t in the varsity lineup when the Pioneers fell to Kingsway, 4-1, on April 17, but since grabbing that spot after an eye-opening performance at the Gloucester County Tournament late last month, the unlikely pairing remains unbeaten.
Lindenbaum and Dickler improved to 11-0 Friday, earning a straight-set win at second doubles to provide the clinching points as the Pioneers beat Woodstown, 3-2, in a conference cross-over match in Mullica Hill.
“They’re like the silent assassins – they don’t talk a lot, they’re certainly not flashy and not very loud, but they definitely take care of business,” said Hanrahan, Clearview’s third-year coach. “Those two really do click. Both of them were not on the radar to play varsity doubles at the start of the season, but Joey is a super athletic kid who came out and really wanted it. He’s long with a great reach, and Jackson worked hard in the off-season and has put in his time.”
Lindenbaum and Dickler defeated Woodstown’s sophomore tandem of Joseph Kurpis and Ben Stengel, 6-3, 6-4 to give the Pioneers their third point of the match. Clearview’s Nanda Guntupalli had already posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Caleb Carter at No. 1 singles, and Clearview’s No. 1 doubles team of Gavin McAnally and R.J. Chappell beat Matt Chisarik and Drew Stengel, 6-0, 7-5.
The Pioneers (11-5), who have won five of their last six matches, will now turn their attention to Monday when they’ll travel to Kingsway needing a win to earn a share of the Tri-Co Royal championship with the Dragons.
“Coach was pretty blunt about it,” said Guntupalli, a junior who is in his second season at the top singles spot. “He felt we were a division-winning caliber team and that’s what he expected. By no means was it a blowout by Kingsway the first time. We’re just going to need the right mental approach coming into the match.”
Woodstown, which fell to 7-8 and has lost six of seven, got its points at second and third singles.
In the most competitive match of the day, Woodstown senior Jacob Pessolano outlasted sophomore Gabe Bruno, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) at second singles. The match lasted about two hours and finished about a half hour after Clearview had clinched at second doubles.
Woodstown sophomore Erich Lipovsky prevailed at No. 3 singles, besting Ethan Bathurst, 6-3, 6-2.
With a quality win over the Wolverines, the five-time defending Tri-Co Diamond Division champions, the Pioneers got a good test ahead of Monday’s rematch with Kingsway.
“Woodstown has a really nice squad,” Hanrahan said. “(Coach Jesse Stemberger) always does a nice job with his kids and they’re tough, and Kingsway’s tough. We’ve got to be able to dig down deep to play against kids who come at you with every single stroke.
“I’m happy with the way we played today. If my boys can get out there and play that way on Monday, with maybe a little more intensity and focus, I think we’ll have a good shot.”
To pull off the upset, they’ll likely need Lindenbaum and Dickler to continue their winning ways.
The duo got a chance to compete in the Gloucester County Championships because McAnally and Chappell were on their Senior Trip, and they ended up beating their teammates, Clearview’s then-No. 2 team of Travis Lyons and Gary Scipione, in the quarterfinals. They beat them again in a subsequent challenge match to grab that spot in the lineup.
Dickler had actually started the season with another partner, but after Hanrahan tinkered with some mixing and matching of his doubles players, he struck gold with the Lindenbaum-Dickler pairing.
“We clicked really well and I’ve never played as well with anyone else – we just play really well together,” Lindenbaum said. “We went into the Gloucester County Tournament and clicked right away. We’re pretty confident. Whether we win or lose, we feel like we can win every match.”
Guntupalli, who improved to 8-7 with his win at No. 1 singles, praised all of his doubles teammates for their performance throughout the season.
“We know our team has a lot of depth, even into jayvee doubles,” he said. “Most of our matches have come down to what we can do at singles because we usually have both doubles locked down. We know we have to do our jobs at singles.”
Despite the setback, Woodstown is 5-0 in the Diamond Division and in strong position to clinch its sixth straight division crown.
Most of the losses during the recent skid have been against bigger schools.
“Obviously we’re in a good spot in the Diamond Division and we’re close to clinching that and that’s always the goal in the beginning – winning the division,” Stemberger said. “Going into the playoffs we want to compete, and matches like this get us ready for that.”
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