Finley Boys’ Tennis Starts Season with Twin Victories

The Finley boys’ tennis team started off the spring season with twin victories against Commack and East Northport. The squad has a 10 meet schedule and has high hopes for success with a veteran laden roster.

The 18-player squad is coached by Southdown Primary School physical education teacher John Romano.

Finley topped highly regarded Commack, 5-2 to open its competitive season. Playing in No. 1 singles, Michael Tucker got the ball rolling, winning in straight sets, 4-1, 4-2. Jack Steinberg won his singles match in split sets, taking the first, 4-3, before dropping the second, 1-4 and then rebounding to win a 7-4 tiebreaker set.

Finley’s three doubles teams swept their matches against Commack. In No. 1 doubles, Patrick Tortora and Jackson Poli beat Commack’s pair in straight sets, 4-3, 4-3. Lucas Biancardo and Ronan Driscoll had a tough match-up but ultimately prevailed after facing four different game points by Commack in the tiebreaker set, 4-1, 3-4, 9-7.  Quinn Rinaldi and Brady LaCosta won in straight sets 4-2,4-2.

“Last year we played Commack and they beat us 6-1 in our first match of the year,” Romano said. “I think winning this year, 5-2 gave these guys a nice boost of confidence to start the season.”

Finley compiled an 8-2 mark in 2022 and Romano and his players are hoping to improve on that record this spring.

Earlier this week, Finley cruised past East Northport, 7-0 with every player contributing. Henry Schmid and Jake Chiclacos notched their first individual wins of the year. Schmid came back to win in a tiebreaker, 3-4, 4-1, 7-0. Chiclacos easily beat his opponent in straight sets, 4-0,4-1.

Tucker (4-1, 4-1) and Steinberg (4-0, 4-1) rounded out the singles with wins. Tortora and Poli dominated their doubles match, winning 4-0, 4-1. Biancardo and Driscoll also captured their second victory of the season. Rinaldi and LaCosta finished the afternoon with another doubles win 4-1 4-2.

“We played as well as we possibly can today,” Romano said. “We emphasized during the last two practices on finishing our opponent and not letting them back into the match when we’re up. We did a great job of that today.”

Finley plays its third meet of the spring this afternoon at Hauppauge.