SWR tennis handed its first loss of the season

About a half hour after their teammates completed their tennis matches, Southold/Greenport’s Kyan Olsen and Matt McGunnigle were still toiling away in their second doubles encounter.

With the team score tied at three apiece, much was at stake — a home victory against Shoreham-Wading River on a brisk Monday afternoon.

Despite losing the first set, the Settlers duo bounced back and clinched the team win, 4-3. They defeated Theodore Misawa and Ethan Weng, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

After recording the winning point, McGunnigle and Olsen received applause from their teammates as Southold (2-1) handed the Wildcats (3-1) their first loss of the Suffolk County tennis season.

“When you look at the schedule, there are teams that you have to beat, [games] that you should be in. The team today, you never know,” head coach Mike Carver said. “But this was a good pickup for us. They have a strong team.”

McGunnigle and Olsen wound up having a strong day as they improved in their 90-minute match.

“We learned to play them in terms of their second serves weren’t that good,” McGunnigle said. “So, it was hitting it to the one kid.”

Before the Southold-Shoreham match started, the Settlers already enjoyed a one-point advantage because Shoreham forfeited third singles after Wildcats head coach Matthew Epp moved one of his competitors to third doubles.

That did not work out. Southold’s Jason Rodriguez and Josh Uguna still won over Aiden Weng and Ryan Keneski, 6-2, 6-2. In fourth doubles, the Settlers’ Kyle Davis and Tyler Perry recorded a 6-0, 6-1 win over Leonel Castro and Grayden Luck.

In other Settlers matches, Evan Czartosieski lost to Ray Hidaka, 6-0, 6-0, in first singles, and Grady Brigham was downed by Kenzo Wentz by the same score in second singles. Clint Cornell and John Zuzzi were defeated by Kai Hidaka and Oscar Lieber in first doubles, 6-0, 6-1.

“First singles is a tough place to play,” Carver said. “Evan is a really strong player, but he’s facing every team’s best player.”