Court aces: Downingtown East completes undefeated Ches-Mont regular-season campaign
East Nottingham >> The Downingtown East boys’ tennis team completed its undefeated regular-season run through the Ches-Mont League in style, defeating host Oxford, 7-0, Monday.
The Cougars, who finished their regular season with a 12-0 league record and a 12-1 overall mark (including a loss to two-time defending state champ Lower Merion), were missing a few of their leading players Monday, including the spots at first and second singles and first doubles, but that didn’t stop the visitors, who won all seven matches in straight sets.
D-East freshman Soumil Patel, who has held down the third singles spot for the Cougars, played first singles Monday and won, 6-1, 6-0.
Last year, the Cougars advanced to the PIAA 3A state team quarterfinals, and Chris Waychunas, who has been D-East boys’ tennis head coach for more than a dozen years, noted his team’s extensive match experience, both on and off the high school courts.
“Our players have lots of match experience, which is key, because whether you’re playing USTA events or (other) events, it kind of carries into the (high school) season where you’re used to the pressure situations, and you’re used to knowing what to do against certain opponents,” said Waychunas.
At the top of the lineup for the Cougars this spring has been sophomore Shrihan Madam, who has held down the first singles spot for D-East for much of the last two years. The Cougars are looking forward to having Madam for the PIAA post-season this spring — last year, he suffered a wrist injury that cut short his freshman season.
“Shrihan contributes a lot of energy to our team, and he’s improved a lot since last year,” said Waychunas.
At second singles, the Cougars feature senior Abhiraj Srivastava, who was the Daily Local News Boys Tennis Player of the Year last spring. As a junior, Srivastava teamed with his twin brother Abhineet to win the District 1 3A doubles tournament, then finished second in the PIAA 3A state doubles championships.
“Abhiraj brings a lot of leadership and coachability, and he’ll do anything he can for the sake of our team,” said Waychunas.
At third singles for D-East is Patel, a freshman, who filled in nicely at first singles Monday.
“Soumil is a fighter,” said Waychunas. “He understands the (key) moment, and he likes that – it’s all on the line, and he’s ready to go.”
On Monday, D-East senior Devin McBride, who will play tennis for West Chester University this fall, won his second singles match, 6-4, 6-2. Displaying the Cougars’ depth, Nico Pascale won at third singles, 6-1, 6-0.
At first doubles for D-East this spring has been a pair of seniors, Ahbineet Srivastava and Rohan Gargya, who took Lower Merion to three sets at first doubles in the Cougars’ match against the Aces last week. The D-East duo filled the first doubles spot for the Cougars in the PIAA post-season team tournaments last year, too.
“They complement each other – Rohan is kind of steady, and Abhineet is kind of the hammer,” said Waychunas.
In the PIAA post-season, freshman Vishruth Madam and sophomore Ashwin Natarajan will fill the second doubles spot for D-East. On Monday, they won at first doubles, 6-0, 6-0.
“Both of them are very good servers and returners,” said Waychunas. “They also have a good chemistry with each other.”
The PIAA District 1 3A team tournament starts May 3. Downingtown East should be one of the highest seeds in the tourney bracket, behind Lower Merion and Conestoga.
At second doubles Monday, Sachiel Varada and Vidhur Varada won in straight sets, as did the Cougars third and fourth doubles teams.
For Oxford, the loss drops its record to 4-8. The Hornets have defeated Kennett, Coatesville, Sun Valley and Chichester this spring.
Oxford boys’ tennis head coach Justin Hostetter played first singles for the Hornets from 2005-2007. He is encouraged by the increased turnout of Hornets this spring.
“I want to see this program grow, because it gave a lot to me in my high school career,” said Hostetter. “We had 22 players come out this spring; last year, we had about 16. We’re building the program.”
Oxford has some developing underclassmen at doubles, such as freshmen Ben Fields and Owen Graf, and juniors Drew Fields and Kevin Meiler.
“I think next year the Fields brothers will be competing for singles,” said Hostetter. “Drew has good technique and strokes; he really has good hands at the net, and puts up some great volleys, he’s been really helpful for doubles. I worked with Ben over the summer, he grew a lot over the summer and has really added a lot of power to his game.
“Owen Graf put in a ton of work during the off-season, which is something we don’t always get here (at Oxford), but he went out and played every single day, and Owen has a strong future. Kevin Meiler has switched from baseball to tennis, and he has a lot of athleticism – he hustles everything down and has come a long way too.
Hostetter also praised the leadership of the Hornets three singles players, all seniors – Jacob Horton, Liam Hale and Luke Schoesser.
“They were willing to work with the underclassmen; they never felt like they were too good for the team and they showed (the younger players) how to work hard,” said Hostetter.
Downingtown East 7, Oxford 0
Singles: Soumil Patel (DE) def. Jacob Horton (OX), 6-1, 6-0; Devin McBride (DE) def. Liam Hale (OX), 6-4, 6-2; Nico Pascale (DE) def. Luke Schoesser (OX), 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles: Vishruth Madam/Ashwin Natarajan (DE) def. Connor Michael/Drew Fields (OX), 6-0, 6-0; Sachiel Varada/Vidhur Varada (DE) def. Ben Fields/Kevin Meiler (OX), 6-4, 6-1; Brandon Gabrys/Rishi Kamtam (DE) def. Owen Graf/John Sapp (OX), 6-1, 6-1; Kaushik Srivakumar/Sohil Gargya (DE) def. Edward Rohrer/Dylan Graham (OX), 6-1, 6-0.
