NHS Tennis Team Clinches Postseason Berth
Newtown High School's boys' tennis team won its last three matches of the season to finish at 6-6 and earn a spot in the state tournament.
The Nighthawks edged host New Fairfield 4-3, then blanked visiting Masuk of Monroe 7-0, May 8 and 9.
In the win over New Fairfield, fourth singles player Ben Futterman won 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1. All three doubles teams prevailed as Rohan Mansukhani and Luke Sposato won 6-4, 7-5, the team of Josh Parsons and Jacob Shuman won an 8-3 pro set decision, and Milan Chand and Sachin Mansukhani won 8-6.
Against Masuk, Sam Cannizzo won at first singles, 7-5, 6-1; Stephen Dooley won 6-2, 6-4; Nihar Soman won 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Futterman won 6-0, 6-1. Each of Newtown's doubles tandems came out on top with the top two winning in two sets (6-0, 6-0, and 6-1, 6-0, respectively), and the third team winning 8-6.
"I'm really enjoying it — great year," said first-year Newtown Coach Anna Malkin, who is looking forward to not only this spring's postseason but also the future of the program. "They've really grown as a team. I'm excited to see what they can do next year."