Hilltop Happenings

– Written by Sports Information Director Procter Smith

The 2020 edition of the varsity tennis team understands that seasons like last year’s don’t come around too often. Their precursors not only had a school-record 14 wins but also advanced to the semifinals of the New England Championships for the first time in Salisbury history. With the loss of the top two players on that roster, as well as several other graduates, returners will be moving multiple steps up the playing ladder – and, in turn, facing much tougher competition at those higher positions than they did last year.

Be that as it may – and with the additional understanding that there may be no spring athletic season this year – second-year coach Kyle Dudley does have several players back who are coming off strong 2019 seasons. That list is headed by the redoubtable Seth Gelwarg. Gelwarg, a sixth former, compiled a 12-4 singles record in 2019, playing mostly #3 but including several matches at #2. At #2 doubles, he and his partner went 9-0 over the regular season. In the post-season, Dudley moved Gelwarg up to the #1 pairing with Andres Ballesteros, and they proceeded to win the #1 doubles flight in the Southern New England Tournament. Gelwarg will serve as team captain, completing an impressive hat-trick that has also included captaincies of the varsity soccer and varsity basketball teams.

Joining Gelwarg in the ranks of returners are fifth-formers George Conroy and Barry Wu. Playing both #5 and #6 singles last spring, Conroy rang up an impressive 11-3 tally and earned recognition as the team’s Most Improved Player. By season’s end, Conroy had also earned a regular spot in the doubles line-up, playing at #3 through the playoffs. Wu battled injuries last season but still managed to post a 6-4 record at #6 singles.

Tryouts prior to spring break established sixth former Alan Gu and fourth former James Vu, both j.v. players a year ago, as new members of the varsity roster. Dudley projects them as probable #4 and #5 players in his line-up, behind Gelwarg, Conroy, and Wu. The last singles spot was still being hotly contended when school broke for vacation. Among those battling for that spot were third former Russell Judge, out of South Carolina; fifth former JR LaBow, another former j.v. player; fourth former James Mathus, who played last year at Darien H.S.; fifth former Daniel Newman, who did not play tennis last spring but gained valuable experience as a varsity athlete on the squash team this winter; and sixth former Charlie Sheppard, another varsity aspirant from the j.v. ranks. Several other candidates have hopes of filling out the varsity roster as doubles specialists: fifth former Ethan Cheung, fourth former Will Koester, and sixth former Wally McKeon.

As news of the pandemic has brought new upheavals daily to the Hilltop and the rest of the country, Dudley has resigned himself to the likelihood that his team will not take to the courts this spring. “I was really excited about this season,” he recently shared. “We had a great group that first week of tryouts. I felt we could have been pretty good, even though we had far less talent than last year's team. We won so many matches 7-0 or 6-1 last year that I was excited about playing more competitive matches this year and seeing if we could grind out some close wins. I feel awful for Seth Gelwarg,” lamented Dudley, who also coached Gelwarg this past winter as the varsity basketball team reached the New England Playoffs for the first time since 2013. “Seth was so excited to play number-one singles and see how he could do, and I was excited to coach him. Seth was an outstanding captain for the basketball team, and I was looking forward to working with him in tennis as my sole captain.”