Bulldogs ready to compete with Shore's elite teams
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

There was a lot riding on Rumson-Fair Haven's boys tennis match with Holmdel on Tuesday.

While the top-ranked Hornets are generally considered the team to beat this season, RFH head coach Don Russell was confident that his team was capable of knocking off their division rivals.

"We'll see what happens against Holmdel," he said Monday night. "I think we have a good shot at beating them."

Whether or not they did beat Holmdel was not going to make or break the Bulldogs' season. However, Russell, now in his 24th season coaching at RFH, was sure he would learn quite a bit about his team either way.

"It will let us know where we stand in the Shore Conference," he said. "Regardless of the outcome, we should be able to see where we stack up against the really good teams in the Shore, and how much work we still have to do.

"That match should start to set the stage for the seedings in the Shore Conference Tournament."

While the Bulldogs were ranked third in the Shore going into the match, Russell dismissed the early-season polls.

"I haven't seen the other teams, but I see no reason why we shouldn't be ranked as high as some of the other top teams," he said. "We've won Central Jersey Group II four years in a row now, so I'm sure somebody's taken notice of that.

"If you talk to the Holmdel coach, I'd be interested to see where he thinks we belong," he added. "Polls don't tell you anything unless all the teams play each other. And even then, it's tough, because you can lose a match 5-0, with all the matches being very close."

Having already beaten CBA and Middletown North this season, the Bulldogs have proven to be among the Shore's elite. With plenty of talent returning from last year's 19-4 Group II championship team, Rumson appears ready to make another run at some hardware this spring.

"Our Number 1 guy [junior Sean Pahler] is back, and he's matured," Russell said. "There haven't been too many kids better than him over the last two years."

Pahler was 18-7 last year and advanced to the semifinals of the county flight tournament.

"Our second and third singles are very skilled players as well," the coach added. "[Junior] Clarke Maloof is up from third singles last year, while [sophomore] Greg Bach was a second doubles player last year who is handling the third singles position very well so far.

"Our first doubles team of seniors Nick Kelly and Dave Seide is the same team that we've had for the last three years," Russell added.

"I don't think there are too many better doubles teams in the state than those two."

And then there's the Bulldogs' only question mark - second doubles.

"We have seasoned players at all of our positions except second doubles. At second doubles, we're starting all over," the coach said. "Right now, sophomore Ben Kelly and freshman Jack Wiker hold that spot, but whether or not they're still there a couple of weeks from now remains to be seen."

Russell added that there are a number of kids who may find themselves playing in that second doubles spot over the course of the season.

"It's hard to say, it's so wide open," the coach said. "There's no daylight between the next four players. I don't want to send the wrong message by mentioning some kids and not others.

"We keep 11 kids on the varsity, and any of the other players [not currently in the starting lineup] have the opportunity to work their way into the lineup."

Just how much the Bulldogs can get out of that second doubles spot may determine how far this team can go.

"It all depends on our doubles," Russell said. "Last year it took us a long time to find our chemistry. Hopefully, this year it won't take so long."

Both doubles teams were sure to be tested on Tuesday against Holmdel, which is very strong at both doubles spots.

"We're lucky, we get to play them twice because they're in our division [Class A Central]," Russell said with a smile. "Fortunately, they're in Group III, so we don't have to face them in the state tournament."

The Bulldogs were back on the court yesterday against Middletown South, and will face Matawan tomorrow.

From there, they'll start thinking about the Shore Conference Tournament, which gets under way on April 30.

"They're pretty strong, though they haven't been really tested yet," Russell said prior to Tuesday's match with Holmdel.

"These kids come to the court prepared to play every match."

And this year, like most, that will mean a lot of wins for another strong Bulldogs team.