Sailors net conference title

A day after sealing the Nassau Conference 2B boys’ tennis championship, Oceanside completed a perfect regular season with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over visiting South Side May 11.

The Sailors (14-0) took three of four doubles matches, including a decisive come-from-behind win in the No. 1 slot by senior Greg Flax and junior David Bader. Flax and Bader dropped the first set to juniors Nick Kalafatis and Chris Mulloly and trailed by three games in the second before rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 triumph.

“They were being outplayed and making uncharacteristic errors,” Oceanside coach Barry Kubit said of Flax and Bader. “There was a lot of pressure, but they were able to calm down and get back to playing how they usually play.”

In their second year as a tandem, Flax and Bader capped an undefeated season of their own with 12 wins. “Greg does most of his damage at the net and David does most of his damage from the baseline,” Kubit explained. “All of our doubles teams are built the same way. We have a good mixture of talent and personalities.”

Incredibly, Oceanside hadn’t lost a doubles match until the finale when junior Josh Jacoby and sophomore Ben Zaslav were nipped in the No. 3 spot. They posted one of the biggest wins of the year when they outlasted Lynbrook’s Tyler Levine and Andrew Watman in three sets April 11, clinching a 4-3 decision.

Juniors Ross Taylor and Brandon Hoovis were perfect at second doubles, and senior Harrison Sklar and sophomore Jesse Cyrulnik were flawless at fourth doubles.

“Generally, our strength is in doubles,” Kubit said. “We have good, competitive balance throughout the roster. We had several alternates step up and contribute as well. It’s not like we had the same lineup every match.”

The Sailors faced adversity off the bat in March when their singles lineup took a hit with the loss of senior Jason Fiderer to an ankle injury. Fiderer eventually returned for the last six matches, going 4-2 in the No. 2 position, but wasn’t 100 percent. “Jason gutted it out and gave our singles a boost,” Kubit said. “Our doubles were strong and consistent, and carried us early in the year.