Nighthawk Tennis Players Battle In Postseason

Members of Newtown High School’s girls’ tennis team competed in the State Open at Yale in New Haven this past weekend, and boys’ team members participated in the Class LL State Tournament this past week (the boys’ State Open is scheduled to begin June 11).

In the girls’ State Open, the Nighthawks were led by their top doubles team of Meghan Loose and Julia Frattaroli, which made it all the way to the quarterfinal round. The Newtown tandem, seeded No. 13, beat Alexandra Aldieri and Nicole Aldieri of Lewis Mills, 8-2 in the first round; blanked Kathryn Collins and Kayleen Kessler, if Branford, 8-0 in the second round; topped No. 10 Pamela Fetzer and Mary Pearce of Avon, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round; and fell to No. 2 Alexandra Ashmore and Emma Sampson of Weston after winning the first set, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 2-6 in the quarters.

Five players from the girls’ squad participated in the State Open championships. No. 1 singles player, Lauren Frazzetta, and No. 2 doubles partners Sara Benson and Stephanie Roman also competed. Benson and Roman defeated Old Saybrook’s Christine DeAntonis and Beth Morrison 8-3 in the opening round before being eliminated. Loose and Frattaroli qualified for the All-State Team and will be recognized at the CIAC awards banquet on June 20.

In boys’ action, top singles player and No. 9 seed Rob Beier reached the second round by defeating Andrew Pollack of Ridgefield, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round. Beier fell to No. 23 Miles Singer of Westhill of Stamford in the second round. Newtown’s Ricky Fuentes defeated Yi Chen of Norwich Free Academy, 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round before losing to top-seeded Dan Hirshberg of Staples of Westport in the first round. Newtown’s Tyler Ruefenacht battled first-round opponent Chis Kinney, of Fairfield Prep, before falling 0-6, 6-2, (10-8). Newtown’s top doubles partners, No. 13 Sean Elliott and Connor Howell, reached the third round. The NHS duo defeated Simsbury’s Omesh Kamat and Colin Kirkland, 3-6, 6-4, (10-5) in the first round; topped Noah Barr and Julian Peck of Westhill, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round; and lost a tough battle with No. 3 Daniel Grove and Tyler Hajjar of Cheshire, 5-7, 6-3. Also in doubles action, Newtown’s Yossi Kohrman-Glaser and Adam Oelberg defeated Ray Bjorkman and Alex Winnick of Hamden, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round before being eliminated in the second round.