Sharon’s Alex Romantz prepares to return a shot at the net in first doubles play. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)
ROCKLAND, Mass. – Although it was just one game a season, the Sharon boys tennis team has developed somewhat of a rivalry with Duxbury.
The teams met in the D2 South Semifinal in 2013, and in the D2 South Final each of the last three years.
And with Sharon situated as the top seed and Duxbury seeded second, it looks like the two were on a collision course for another showdown.
But shortly after the Eagles booked their ticket to their fourth straight final, Duxbury was stunned by third-seeded Scituate in the semifinal, erasing any chance for Sharon to exact revenge for a year ago.
The change of opponent, however, didn’t change the goal: the Eagles were determined to get back to the state final.
“It’s a different look than what we were used to,” said Sharon head coach Joan Cutter. “We beat Duxbury (2015) and they’ve beat us a couple of times so I think we were ready to play them again. It gave us sort of a different attitude coming in.”
With a 5-0 sweep – winning four matches in straight sets — Sharon is headed back to the D2 State/EMass Final. The Eagles will take on Wayland, the North champions, in a rematch from 2015.
“I think we had a good shot of beating [Duxbury] this season, our match ups looked good against them,” admitted Sharon senior and first singles player Griffin Fein. “We knew me and Fred [Bondar] would have tough matches but after that, I have a lot of confidence in the rest of the team how they are playing right now so we felt good no matter who we played. I’m happy how things went today and we’re happy to be going back to the finals.”
“I was definitely looking forward to playing Duxbury again, we were a little surprised when we saw the result,” said Sharon senior and first doubles player Alex Romantz. “We had talked a lot through the year about getting ready for Duxbury for a rematch from last year.
“We kind of had a chip on our shoulder from last year so we really made it a goal to get back here and make it to the state final. Even though it wasn’t Duxbury, we’re definitely happy to be back in the state championship.”
While it wasn’t Duxbury, the Eagles were certainly prepared for Scituate, who proved they belong by eliminating the Dragons in the tournament despite losing in the regular season.
The Eagles were on point from the get-go. Fein won the first five games of the first set at first singles, Fred Bondar took four wins in the first five games in the first set at second singles and Andre Olivei jumped out to a 4-1 lead as well.
“Once we saw it wasn’t them, we just had to treat it like a regular match, and just go out there and play our best,” Fein said. “Whether it was Duxbury or not, our goal was to make it to the state finals and that’s what we were able to do.”
Both doubles teams had success early on as well. Romantz continued his stellar season with freshman Alberto Olivei, quickly posting a 6-2 win in the first set before most other matches were halfway through the same set.
And in second doubles play, Danujan Thirumavalavan and Max Brody went up 2-1 and kept that lead. The Eagles’ sophomore pairing went up 3-2, then 4-3 before finishing off the first set 6-3.
Romantz and Olivei, who are unbeaten as a team so far in match play this season, kept up their quick pace and registered the match’s first point with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
Romantz played second doubles during his sophomore year with Han Cui, and then moved up to first doubles last year with senior Adam Dobbins. Now, the senior is with his third partner in as many years – and this time around, a freshman.
“Alberto’s been a great partner,” Romantz said, “We definitely have some rock solid chemistry now, we’ve been hitting the ball well all season long. We had some bumps here and there but no losses yet. We’re a good pair together, our games compliment each other really well. With my serve and his net game, it works well for us.”
“He’s got that lefty serve that is so hard, and it’s so hard to return,” Cutter said of Romantz. “He’s just got a vicious put away shot. He serves and then either he or his partner finishes well. He’s very aggressive and he’s kind of got a fearless attitude.”
Bondar put Sharon up 2-0 in the match, cruising through the second set to record a 6-1, 6-1 win at second singles.
Just over 10 minutes later, the Eagles clinched the match when Fein completed a 6-1, 6-2 win at first singles.
“My serve was pretty solid today, my backhand wasn’t as solid as usual though,” Fein said. “My forehand has been a lot cleaner the last couple of weeks so that was helping so I was able to control a lot of points that way.”
Thirumavalavan and Brody pulled out a close second set to earn a 6-3, 7-5 win at second doubles to make it 4-0.
Andre Olivei won the first set (6-2) but trailed throughout the second set, eventually dropping it (4-6). In a 10-point tiebreaker, Olivei completed the sweep for Sharon, finishing with a 6-2, 4-6 (10-6) win.
Sharon boys tennis (23-0) will take on Wayland (16-2) on Tuesday in the D2 State Final at 4:00 at Saint John’s of Shrewsbury.
