Saturday, June 14, 2025
The Hewlett boys’ tennis team has shown marked improvement under new coach Gail Weintraub and were in contention for a conference title for most of the season before a slight skid against the top two teams all but eliminated that chance. The playoffs are still a possibility with one match left, which would be icing on the cake following a five-win showing last spring.
After dropping the season opener to Kennedy on April 1, the Bulldogs rattled off eight straight wins before consecutive 4-3 losses to the division co-leaders in Baldwin on May 2 and the Cougars five days later to fall out of the conference race. But the team rebounded nicely with 6-1 romp of Oceanside on May 8 and a 5-2 victory over Valley Stream Central last Saturday to improve to 10-3.
Hewlett made up last Friday’s home rainout against Massapequa on Monday to close the season.
The Bulldogs’ singles trio of senior Dylan Weinman and sophomore twins Lucca and Ethan Avdoo are a combined 31-5 while the top doubles team of seniors David Abelev and Shane Chadick have yet to be beaten in nine tries. The fourth doubles duo of freshman Hunter Link and sophomore Ethan Harush are a solid 6-2 after Weintraub paired them up in late April.
Weinman won most of his matches in straight sets and had arguably his toughest battles against Baldwin’s Luke Lastique. He outlasted Lastique 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in their first meeting on April 9 before a grueling 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory in the rematch on May 2.
“Dylan has a lot of finesse and can strike the ball,” Weintraub said. “He’s fast, he has a great serve, and he’s very focused.”
The Avdoos earned the other two singles spots during a preseason team tournament and the brothers have earned their keep with Lucca going 11-2 as the second singles and Ethan right behind him at 9-3 from the third hole. Lucca was the top singles player in the opener against Kennedy and was one of the few bright spots with a spotless 6-0, 6-0 victory.
“I’m so proud of them because I had them when they were in middle school and they were not that good, but they started playing every day,” Weintraub said. “I had a playoff at the beginning of the season and we were going to have a round robin to see who the other two positions are and they won hands down.”
Weinman will be competing in the upcoming county tournament along with the Avdoos, who will form a doubles pair, and Abelev and Chadick.
Eighth grader Andrew Levin has show lots of potential as a doubles competitor and has been a part of four victories, including one with Abelev and in his last two starts with junior Justin Kim. The latter duo won in straight sets against Oceanside before posting a 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 comeback win over Central.
The team boasts another set of twins in sophomores Alex and Mark Nosov, who Weintraub has high hopes for if they hone their craft during the offseason.
