Palm Beach County tennis: Army, Navy rivals lead St. Andrew's juggernaut
The St. Andrew’s tennis juggernaut never disappoints.
The girls have won six straight 1A championships and are favorites to make it a lucky seven. The boys have won 3 straight 1A state titles (private/charter schools).
In a Palm Beach County era in which high-school tennis enrollment has suffered, there are 75 kids combined in the two programs. Coach Reid Rafter has broken up his girls team into an A, B and C squads.
And there’s another compelling story emerging on the Boca Raton campus – a tale of two teammates in seniors Madison Smith and Mans Pal. They have been friends since seventh grade and stand as the Scots’ top two singles players.
Alas, they have elected to go two divergent paths after graduation.
Smith has committed to Army, Pal to Navy. Both are Division I programs.
“I think it’s ironic,’’ Smith said. “We’ve gone from friends to teammates and now we’re going to be rivals for the rest of our lives.’’
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The Army-Navy blood battle extends to all sports – not just football. Smith recently attended an Army-Navy tennis match and saw the crazed scene for herself. “I couldn’t believe how many alumni players showed up,’’ Smith said.
Furthering the irony, Pal, who lives in Riviera Beach, was first recruited by Army before setting her sights on Navy when her star swimmer friend, Erin Miller,, decided to go there. It was a tough call but Pal chose Annapolis over West Point.
“I checked it out and ended up loving it,’’ Pal said. “I love both schools. they’re both amazing. Navy was just more for me, including location. I just wanted that lifestyle of a military school.’’
The two girls are bound to serve as officers five years after graduation. “It’s a great decision for two kids who had a lot of other opportunities,’’ Rafter said.
Pal and Smith met in seventh grade. Smith had moved to Boynton Beach from Utah and they enrolled at the same tennis academy in Boca Raton. After moving on together to St. Andrew’s as freshman, the girls have known nothing but state championships.
Pal calls herself “an aggressive baseliner.” Smith is renowned for her quaint, whippet of a one-handed backhand, which her self-taught father instructed her as a child. Smith’s net game in doubles is also vicious.
They are joined by other standouts including eighth grader Wells Newman and junior Lexi Cleveland. The team’s UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) ranked No. 2 in the country two weeks ago. Only Miami’s True North appears to stand in its way of another seventh straight title.
The boys may have a rougher road, losing a handful of significant players from last season’s squad.
But St. Andrew’s still is stacked with a Big 4 of Ryan Nash, a four-star recruit, No. 1 singles Nico Snyder, senior Hugo Vajgel, who isfrom Slovakia and committed to Denison College (Ohio) and junior Julian Fete.
In explaining the St. Andrew’s tennis dynasty, Pal said, “Boca is a hotspot for tennis. Everybody plays on the team in top of the lineup they all train year-round. It’s not like the high school season is only time they play. It’s the whole culture in Boca and the tennis academies. The school has a lot of pride in the sports we do well in.’’
Here’s seven other tennis programs to watch:
Spanish River
The Boca Raton public school on Yamato Road is always a tennis powerhouse. The Sharks girls won the 3A state championship in 2021. Last year, Spanish River made the state final after capturing the 4A district championship and regionals.
Spanish River is state-title contenders again despite losing Maya Shanok, who now plays for Florida Atlantic.
Senior Delanie Tribby returns as top player after losing just one match in singles and doubles last season - and that was the state final four. A four-star recruit, Tribby has committed to Tulane.
Senior Blanka De Micheli is at the top of the lineup and has committed to Boston University. Other notables are senior Alina Kargin, freshman Jessica Popescu, senior Layken Thau and sophomore Muskan Semuel.’They are off to a 2-0 start.
“This is a group that is coachable, selfless and loves the game,’’ said girls coach John Jones, who also pilots the boys basketball team. “Our goal is to be the best we can possibly be in April when tournament play starts.’’
For the boys team, the top two players are Dylan Rouche and Dante Massetta.
Suncoast
The Vladimir Gawlilowski-coachedgirls team is bolstered by incoming freshman Mana Petraite earing the first-singles slot.
That gives them a formidable lineup with Ava Deltas playing at No. 2. The teams most improved player, junior Michaela Tudor is at 3. The team’s lone senior Mira Sayegh mans 4th singles.
Last season Suncoast advanced to the second round of districts but look to improve on that this season.
Forest Hill
Welcome back, Forest Hill. The Falcons dropped their program for two seasons, due to coaching and player-interest issues. The teams are back and piloted by Wendy Fernsell, who played for Forest Hill, graduating in 1980. She’s recruited 10 players for the two squads and put together a 10-match schedule.
Forest Hill doesn’t have courts on its campus so it practices at local parks. The No. 1 boys singles player is Finn Jurthe, a German foreign-exchange student. Senior Jennifer Rey Diaz is a player to watch for the girls.
John I Leonard
This is not a high-resource program but give a nod to head coach Liz Bewley and athletic director Jim Howell for fielding a team year after year in a Hispanic-heavy school district in Greenacres where tennis isn’t largely on the radar.
Bewley said the competition with lacrosse and flag football is fierce. Schneider Viljean mans the No. 1 slot and is known not just for strokes but sportsmanship. Senior Richard Peralta is No. 2. The girls are led by juniors Claira Perez and Alica Germain.
Benjamin
This program is always relevant with veteran tennis coach Robbie Clouse leading the boys and girls. Clouse has been instructing tennis for 49 years.
Ryan Wurhman heads the lineup and is being recruited by Division I and II schools. Wurhman beat Madison Smith last year, though Smith evened the score earlier this month. At second singles is 8th grader Elizabeth Merrill.
The girls team won districts last year and were regional runner-ups. They have a legitimate shot at the regionals title in 2023.
The boys have an 7th grader who has achieved No.1 status in Misha Liberzon with senior Garien Saleh a strong No. 2.
American Heritage
The Delray private school is a powerhouse again. Helen Hendricks and Laura Buchs are key returners; Hendricks is a three-star recruit while Buchs has Division I interest.
For boys, George Kosseifiis a four-star star recruit and won Class 2A singles championship last year; Ajinkya Karnataki was All-County last year as 8th-grader.
Oxbridge Academy
The girls came second in districts to St. Andrew’s and lost in the regionals finals to the Scots. Can they flip it this season?
Hannah Altman plays 1 with Barbara Taylor and Ava Gronberg rotating at 2/3.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County tennis preview: Key teams, players to know for 2023
