Senior Youssef Ibrahim
BELLEVILLE, NJ — With a strong returning group, the Belleville High School boys tennis team has high hopes for a successful season.
Head coach John Dubuque likes his team’s chances to contend for the Super Essex Conference–Independence Division championship. The other teams in the division are Irvington, Nutley, Newark East Side and Newark Central.
“We have a pretty good chance at winning the division. We have a lot of kids back from last year,” said Dubuque in an interview with the Belleville Post as his team was practicing at the BHS tennis courts on Tuesday afternoon, March 21. “We have a good crop of seniors, a good crop of sophomores, and we have some juniors that will fill out the seven-man lineup.”
The Buccaneers are happy to be playing at the renovated BHS tennis courts, which has a new surface, nets and surrounding fence.
Senior Terry Li is expected to be the No. 1 singles spot. Sophomores Ethan Nguyen and Dominick Cappettelli will vie for the other two singles spots. Several players are in the mix for the two doubles teams.
In addition to the division schedule, the Bucs will face strong SEC crossover competition against the likes of Cedar Grove, West Orange, Bloomfield, Caldwell and Verona, as well as non-conference foe Passaic.
But whatever the result, the Bucs will always play hard and with dedication, much to Dubuque’s delight.
“Our kids work extremely hard,” Dubuque said of his team. “They do what they can in every practice. They are here before practice and sometimes they stay after practice. They work well together; they work well at singles, they work well together at doubles.”
The Bucs were scheduled to begin the season on Monday, April 3, at Newark Central.
Here is the rest of the schedule:
- April 5: vs. Cedar Grove, 4 p.m.
- April 10: at Passaic, 4 p.m.
- April 12: vs. Newark East Side, 10 a.m.
- April 14: at Nutley, 4 p.m.
- April 17: vs. Central, 4 p.m.
- April 21: at Irvington, 4 p.m.
- April 24: at Bloomfield, 4 p.m.
- April 26: at Verona, 4 p.m.
- April 28: at Passaic, 4 p.m.
- May 1: vs. Irvington, 4 p.m.
- May 3: at Newark East Side, 4 p.m.
- May 4: at West Orange, 4 p.m.
- May 8: vs. Nutley, 4 p.m.
- May 10: at Caldwell, 4 .m.
- May 15: vs. Golda Och Academy, 4 p.m.
Photos Courtesy of Joe Ragozzino
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