Tennis title for South Side

After winning the Conference 2 boys’ tennis regular-season title, South Side drew a scary opponent — North Shore — in the semifinal round of the playoffs.

The Cyclones fell to the Vikings twice, but South Side coach Chris Colesanti didn’t mind a third meeting between the teams. “Opening the playoffs against North Shore helped us focus,” he said. “They handled us well during the regular season and probably didn’t believe we deserved to be the top seed. They had our attention, which was fine by me.”

Turns out the third time against North Shore was a charm for the Cyclones, who won six of seven courts on May 12 to advance to the finals. Three days later, they captured what research led Colesanti to believe is the first-ever conference championship in program history with a 6-1 win over second-seeded Garden City.

“I was expecting two absolute wars in the playoffs,” Colesanti said. “All I was doing prior to both matches was trying to figure out how we could win four courts and come away with it.

“A lot of courts were open and shut,” he added. “I can’t put my finger on how we won so convincingly except our kids stepped up so much. They rose to the occasion at the right time.”

South Side’s No. 1 and 2 doubles tandems came up huge in the playoff triumph over North Shore at Baldwin Park. The top duo of junior Tyler Davis and sophomore Nolan Tiss avenged two earlier losses to the Vikings’ pair with a surprising 6-2, 6-2 win. “Tyler and Nolan played the match of their season,” Colesanti said. “They hit the ball with confidence and played real clean tennis.”

Backing up the efforts Davis and Tiss were junior Danny Collins and sophomore Ryan Chelius at second doubles. They won a grueling three-set match that included a 10-8 marathon in the decisive set. Other wins against North Shore came at second singles (senior Max Kramer), third singles (sophomore Christian Ardito), third doubles (senior Mat Aliotta and freshman James Ryan), and fourth doubles (junior Billy Anthony and sophomore Jack McCarthy.)