Tennis Team Wins First Round of State Tourney

It was quick, dominating and an expected win. Just what the Westfield High School boy's tennis team expected. The Blue Devils, the top seed in the North 2 Group IV tournament, opened defense of their championship with a tidy 5-0 win over Woodbridge Thursday afternoon.

The Blue Devils improved their record to 21-3 with singles players Scott Bernstein, Justin Snyder and Adam Reich all winning 6-0, 6-0. The Blue Devils' double teams of Alan Chu and Graeme Stahl and Tom Kowalski and Scott Thompson won just as easily 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-0.

The Blue Devils advanced to the North 2 Group IV quarterfinals next Tuesday against ninth-seed Franklin, which scored mild 3-2, upset of Bridgewater-Raritan.
While those two Skyland Conference teams fought to the last point, the Blue Devils made a quick day of it with Woodbridge, 2-8.

"It was pretty quick,'' said Reich, who played his second match since coming back from hip surgery. "I think the team feels pretty similar to how we felt last year. We don't feel like it's a whole team. It feels like everything is going smoothly.''

Reich, who will play at Williams College next year, was referring to his rejoining the team. Last year, the team rolled to the Tournament of Champions final behind Reich who was the team's No. 1 player.

"We're happy he's back,'' said Bernstein. "We have a good shot of going farther in the state tournament with him. His strokes look really good and he's trying to move his opponents. His foot work looks good.''

Of course, all seven Blue Devils will have to play well if they want to get back to where they finished last year.

"Our depth is right back,'' Bernstein said. "The doubles teams are very strong. We feel we have a very solid lineup for every match we'll have in every spot.''