Unionville High School’s junior Hunter Whitesel won a key second singles match to help lead the Indians past Downingtown East, Thursday, in a match up of the top two tennis teams in the Ches Mont League.
EAST MARLBOROUGH —In a match between two Ches-Mont league leaders, Unionville came on top with a 5-2 win over Downingtown East, Thursday. The Indians are now 10-0, while the Cougars drop to 6-1.
The Indians swept doubles again. They lost only one doubles match in their first 10 dual meets this year.
Cougars’ sophomore Michael Dickson remained undefeated in high school tennis this year. Ranked #142 among the nation’s sophomores by Tennisrecruiting.net and a national tournament player, Dickson was a states qualifier last year and is the best tennis player in the Ches-Mont this year. Indian senior and co-captain Zeyad Zaki fought hard but was over matched.
The Indians won the second singles. Junior Hunter Whitesel played a well balanced game to beat super consistent Dylan Dunkelberger, 6-2 and 6-4. The second set was extremely close. Dunkerberger broke Whitesel to take 4-3 lead. However, Whitesel started to play aggressive and won several key points with good passing shots and overheads. The third singles were played between two previously undefeated players, Cougars’ sophomore, Justin Listmeier and Indians’ freshman Zach Sokoloff. Listmeier played superior defense through out the match to edge Sokoloff 7-6(7-5), 4-6, and 6-4. The match lasted nearly three hours.
Although Indians won all four doubles matches, the top two courts were extremely close. Indians’ co-captains, seniors Atma Bery and Sri Garlapati beat Cougars’ Matt Watson and Jay Pendyala, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4. The Indians were behind on most change overs but stayed tough and positive the entire match. The match point was won when Atma ran down a wide angle shot that took him into the other court. After sliding and falling, Bery magically made a one-handed back hand stab at the ball which somehow cleared the net, and landed between the stunned opponents. It was classic Bery and Garlapatia’s “never give up hustle”.
Indians’ senior Champe Fisher and sophomore Harris Avgousti remained undefeated by edging Cougars’ Mark Schwartz and Ben Levine, 3-6, 7-5, and 6-1 at the 2nd doubles. Indians gave away too many easy points in the first set. They cleaned it up in the second set and then took control of the third set with strong powerful net plays.
UHS’s Matt Daniels and Mikey Muscato played really well in both offense and defense to beat DE’s Matt Roberts and Viveck Vipperia, 6-3 and 6-0. The Indians were dominate and aggressive at the net the entire match. They also played great defense when the Cougars tried to drill them at the net. They then took advantage of every opportunity to attack right back.
Senior Will Blair and Freshman Daniel Hopping, another undefeated team, clinched the match for Indians by beating Cougars’ Chanpteet Singh and Varun Giridhar 6-0 and 6-0 at the 4th doubles. They hit hard off the ground and set each other up at the net. They have been a great anchor for Indians this year.
UHS’s JV teams have are undefeated this year.
The Indians will play two more tough league rivals next week, at West Chester Henderson on Monday, April 13 and hosting West Chester Rustin on Tuesday, April 14.
Scoring:
Singles: Michael Dickson (DE) def Zeyad Zaki, 6-0, 6-0; Hunter Whitesel (U) def Dylan Dunkerlberger, 6-2, 6-4; Justin Listmeier (DE) def Zach Sokoloff, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4.
Doubles: Atma Bery and Sri Garlapati (U) def Matt Watson and Jay Pendyala, 7-6(5), 6-4; Champe Fisher and Harris Avgousti (U) def Mark Schwartz and Ben Levine, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1; Matt Daniels and Mikey Muscato (U) def Matt Roberts and Viveck Vipperia, 6-3, 6-0; Will Blair and Daniel Hopping (U) def Chanpteet Singh and Varun Giridhar 6-0, 6-0.
