The recreational tennis players trickled obliviously onto the available courts, lugging rackets and balls, anticipating a typical afternoon playing against friends.
A trio of grizzled male players occupied Court 6. A younger female duo meandered onto Court 8. Other players gradually filled Courts 5 and 7. Tamaques Park’s courts echoed with the familiar sounds of friendly rallies.
But Courts 1, 2, 3 and 4? No recreational players stepped onto those. Those courts were, for now, off-limits. Because a high school match hurtled along on Court 3.
The recreational players could surmise, probably, that the fierce match unfolding on Court 3 featured two high schoolers. The signs were there. A group of parents sat and stood and crouched beyond the fence, many in folding chairs. A row of green-clad high schoolers watched from behind one part of the fence. A row of white-clad high schoolers watched from behind another part of the fence.
Somewhat typical stuff, the unwitting onlookers must have thought, if perhaps more intense than usual.
So the recreational players settled in, separated from this high school match by a fence and a few yards, and commenced to swat the ball back and forth, some with more aplomb than others.
But an inkling of understanding soon visited those recreational players.
Roars emanated repeatedly from Court 3 and from the parents and teammates fixated on it. This prompted some confused stares from the occupants of Courts 5, 6, 7 and 8. The trio of grizzled male players on Court 6, the court directly opposite Court 3, glanced frequently over their shoulders.
The magnitude of this high school match slowly dawned on the recreational players. It had to. Even if they didn’t know who was playing. Even if they didn’t know what the kids were playing for. Even if they didn’t know why the people lining the fences tensed visibly during every point, their eyes shifting as the ball whipped across the court.
The recreational players didn’t know that the player on Court 3 wearing white was Zander Ainge. The player wearing green was Elijah Glaze. Ainge played for Westfield. Glaze for Ridge.
And the fate of the North 2, Group 4 sectional championship rested in their hands.
Later, after the match had concluded, Ainge briefly encountered one member of Court 6’s grizzled trio. The stooped man, dripping sweat, wearing a knee brace, was wrestling the cap back on his water bottle when he walked by Ainge.
Ainge was talking to a reporter—was midway through answering a question—but the man simply had to interject.
“You won, guys?” he inquired gently, smiling a kindly smile.
“No, we lost,” Ainge replied. “But it was a great loss.”
“You lost?” he asked, trying to understand.
“Yeah,” Ainge said. “Three hour 45 minute match.”
“Sorry, man,” the man said, and he seemed to truly mean it. His voice dropped an octave. His eyes widened slightly.
How could he not feel a little sorry? He’d just witnessed Ainge sprinting and lunging and sliding, preserving point after point after point, planting a seed of hope in barren ground and watching it blossom impossibly.
But it never reached full bloom.
“This team came ever so close to winning a sectional championship,” said George Kapner, Westfield’s head coach, in the loss’s immediate aftermath.
“I wish they had that feeling,” he added.
The narrow loss ended Westfield’s season, leaving a stellar campaign without its crowning jewel. The Blue Devils finished 23-4 overall, 13-0 in the Union County Conference and 8-0 in the Watchung division. They won the Union County Tournament title and nabbed the regular-season conference title and lounged at No. 9 in the latest statewide rankings.
They also rampaged through large portions of the regular season.
“We know that we can be the best,” said Tristan Wroe, who played second singles, at one point during the regular season, “and we know that we are the best.”
They blasted through the opening couple weeks, ripping off seven consecutive wins, including tight victories over perennial powerhouse Delbarton (No. 11 in the most recent rankings) and eventual Group 2 champion Mendham (No. 13).
East Brunswick (No. 6) blitzed Westfield at singles in the Bryan Bennett Memorial Tournament semifinals to terminate the fiery run. But Westfield, unbothered, reeled off another seven wins, one of which arrived against county nemesis Summit (No. 14).
Then came a loss to eventual Group 3 champion Millburn (No. 1). Then another five wins, including another against Summit. Then a loss to Delbarton, though with a severely diminished lineup. Then two more wins.
Then the postseason galloped in.
The Union County Tournament quickly converted into a showdown between Westfield and Summit, every flight featuring a match between the two schools. “Westfield and Summit,” Ainge said after one regular-season match against the Hilltoppers, “have been the best two teams in Union County for, I don’t know, basically ever since these teams were created.”
Westfield captured wins at second singles, third singles, first doubles and second doubles to clasp the trophy, asserting its undisputed authority over Summit for the final time.
The Blue Devils motored into the sectional tournament armed with the No. 1 seed. A first-round bye ushered them into the quarterfinals, where they trampled No. 8 seed Phillipsburg. J.P. Stevens, the No. 5 seed, succumbed to Westfield’s supremacy in the semifinals.
Then came No. 2 seed Ridge in the sectional final, and the match that ended it all.
The loss packed another blow. Kapner entered the match with 699 career victories as the head boys tennis coach. He’s amassed hundreds of wins across a slew of sports over a 44-year career. But on that sunny Monday afternoon, the winningest coach in Westfield history stood on the brink of becoming the first Westfield coach to collect 700 wins in a single sport. The loss halted him barely below that vaunted threshold.
Kapner is retiring, athletic director Sandy Mamary told Hi’s Eye Sports. But there exist unformed plans for Kapner to notch his 700th victory.
“I’m trying to figure out how we could get him to coach one more match to get him to that milestone of 700,” Mamary said.
Kapner’s departure will leave a considerable void, a hole with no clear stuffing. Mamary has nobody tapped to take over as head coach.
“We’ll post that,” she said, “and see who applies.”
Whoever assumes the role will inherit a talented team. Five members of the starting lineup will return.
Ben Duan, the scintillating sophomore who shouldered the burden of first singles, will return. Sophomore Eshaan Khera and junior Cole Hornbeck, who formed a devastating tandem that reached the quarterfinals of the state doubles tournament, will return. Juniors Colin Cimei and Deven Patel, another effective duo, will return.
But the lineup, of course, will shuffle. Tristan Wroe, who played second singles, and Ainge, who played third singles, will graduate. Wroe will play at Stevens Institute of Technology, joining his older brother Sebastian.
For the remaining players, though, the goal is clear. Up, up, up. Toward a sectional title. Toward a group title.
So maybe, a year from now, a grizzled, kindly old man will walk by a Westfield player and interject. “You won, guys?” he’ll ask.
And maybe, if things go well, the Westfield player will answer differently.
“Yep.”
