Ocean Township boys eye rematch with Marlboro
Spartans expected to face top-ranked Mustangs
in today’s SCT final
By george albano
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Ocean’s Doug Friedman lunges for a backhand return during his match against Marlboro’s Andrew Sharnov in Marlboro on Friday.

The Ocean Township High School boys’ tennis team can’t wait to play Marlboro again. The Spartans might not have to wait very long, either.

After eight straight victories, Ocean Township lost its first match of the 2003 season last Friday to Marlboro 3-1 in a battle of the top two teams in the Shore Conference. Marlboro, ranked No. 1, came into the match with a 6-0 conference record, while No. 2 OTHS was 5-0.

Round one went to Marlboro, but the two rivals could meet two more times, including today in the Shore Conference tournament finals. Both teams won their quarterfinal matches on Monday, and a semifinal victory by each squad on Wednesday was all that stood in the way of a rematch.

"It would be a big upset if we didn’t play each other again in the finals," veteran coach Stan Friedman, now in his 37th year at Ocean Township, said.

"We knew that we were the two best teams in the Shore Conference, and this year we’re in the same division."

The Shore Conference re-aligns its divisions every two years, and after competing in the B North Division for the past several years, Ocean Township moved back up to the A North Division this season, joining Marlboro and thus renewing their rivalry on the tennis courts.

"We were supposed to play them earlier in the season at our place, but we got rained out and have to make that match up," Friedman said. "If we beat them, and assuming we do not lose to anyone else, we’d be co-champs."

The first meeting between the two perennial powers proved to be every bit as good as advertised. And while Marlboro emerged victorious, senior Gal Horovits, Ocean Township’s standout No. 1 singles player, defeated freshman John Boym 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to remain unbeaten with a 9-0 mark.

"He was one of the top four ranked players in the state tournament last year," Friedman pointed out. "And, John Boym is one of the top players in the state, so it was a big match for both of them."

It was also the 90th career victory for Horovits, who went 27-0 as a freshman playing No. 3 singles, 30-2 as a sophomore at No. 2 singles, and 24-2 last year at No. 1. With a 90-4 career record coming into this week, Horovits seems almost certain to reach the century mark in career victories.

Meanwhile, No. 2 singles player Doug Friedman, another senior, is also coming down the homestretch of an impressive career. He was 7-0 this season before falling 6-2, 6-2, to Marlboro, for only his fifth career loss.

Friedman, no relation to the coach, went 20-1 as a freshman playing No. 1 doubles, 28-0 at three singles in 2001, and 22-3 at two and three singles last year, giving him a 77-5 record beginning play this week.

Another senior, Allie Morabia, a transfer, was 4-0 and leading his Marlboro opponent 6-4, 5-4 when the matched was stopped because of lightning.

At No. 1 doubles, freshman Spencer Friedman, Doug’s younger brother, and sophomore Josh Grossman also lost their first match of the season to Marlboro, 6-1, 6-1, after opening the season with six straight wins.

The Spartans have used two different combinations at No. 2 doubles. The sophomore duo of Marco Rivera and Ross Grill played the first seven matches and won them all. Rivera then teamed up with senior Rami Kashani for the next two matches, winning one and then losing a close match to Marlboro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

With Horovits and Doug Friedman leading the way, the Spartans have "had a good four years," according to Stan Friedman. Of course, he’s had a good 37 years at Ocean Township, compiling a 617-136 coaching record and leading the tennis team to seven Central Jersey Group III state championships, three Shore Conference crowns, and 23 division titles.

This year’s Spartans would like to add another couple of championships to that résumé, but they will have to go through Marlboro, which improved to 10-1 with last week’s victory, the only loss coming against Newark Academy, the No. 1 team in the state.

"Marlboro is deeper than us this year," Friedman said. "But we obviously could have won second doubles, and third singles was up for grabs. And, hopefully, we can do better next time at both second singles and first doubles.

"So we’ll see, but I think it should be a good match when we play them again."

The Spartans can’t wait.