Tennis team at full strength

Stocked with coach Sue Hirschbein-Bodnar’s desired lineup for the first time this spring, Long Beach gave undefeated Roslyn a run for its money on the tennis courts April 20.

The Marines lost by the narrowest of margins, 4-3, despite sweeping all three singles matches. The Bulldogs won the decisive battle at first doubles when Matt Klein and Zach Mintz prevailed over Ethan Bogard and Zak Seghrouchni in three sets.

“I was so excited to finally have the whole compliment of kids in the lineup, but it was a somber bus ride back home,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “Everyone was disappointed. We played well, but they made some incredible shots to beat us.”

Bogard, a freshman, and Seghrouchni, a junior, came back the following day against Great Neck North and provided the difference for the Marines in a 4-3 win. After dropping the first set, the tandem won 12 of 13 games over the next two sets against Jared Lewis and Sam Hajibai. “They’ve got nice chemistry,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said of Bogard and Seghrouchni. “Ethan has a great all-around game and Zak is strong at the net.”

Seghrouchni filled in at second singles in last Saturday’s 5-2 win over Friends Academy and emerged victorious in three sets.

Last spring, Ethan played doubles with his older brother, Ben, who is thriving in the third singles spot as the only senior on the roster. Ben Bogard and sophomores Eric Rubin (first singles) and Matthew Barry (second singles) all took undefeated records into this week’s action.

“They’re all-court players,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said of the singles trio. “They hit great ground strokes and set up opponents well.”

All three impressed in the loss to Roslyn. Rubin, who played second singles in 2009, won convincingly over Austin Blall, 6-0, 6-2. Barry, up from third singles a year ago, knocked off Alex Werman, 6-3, 6-0, and Ben Bogard rallied past Dustin Breitner, 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Long Beach is the youngest team in Conference I-B and sits at .500 (3-3) midway through the schedule. “We weren’t at full strength early in the season,” Hirschbein-Bodnar said. “I hope we can be more successful in the second half.”

Sophomores Andrew Schnier and Dan Feldman are paired at second doubles, sophomores Jordan Jaffe and Jonathan Smucker at third doubles, and junior Brandon Sadowsky and freshman Russell Goetz at fourth doubles. Sophomore Zachary Klein and freshmen Justin Charschan and Brandon Levokove contributed at times in the season’s opening half, while sophomores Jonathan Wind and Ian Khavin and freshman Jarrett Levine are working their way up the ladder.

Long Beach’s next home match is against South Side on May 5 at 4:15 p.m.