Gilman reigns supreme again in A Conference team tennis

by Nelson Coffin

Although Gilman’s eight-year reign atop the MIAA A Conference tennis league ended in a loss to Calvert Hall last spring, the Greyhounds looked like their old dominated selves on Thursday afternoon in Roland Park, blanking McDonogh, 5-0, to earn the program’s ninth league team title in the last 12 seasons under coach Steve Krulevitz.

Gilman was led by senior captain Andrew Hannan, who edged Josh Maller, 6-3, 7-5, to complete a perfect season in No. 1 singles.

The Virginia commit said that having the streak snapped by the Cardinals last year took the pressure off the Greyhounds.

“I think we didn’t have to deal with the streak anymore and we could just focus on playing our game,” said Hannan, the defending No. 1 singles champ who also captured the No. 2 single crown as a sophomore. “For the most part we ran back the same team (from last year) and we had a lot of success this year.”

In his battle with Maller, the Gilman captain often took advantage of the situation when the Eagle junior rushed the net.

“He had really good volleys, so trying to get rid of those and trying to hit it over his head and forcing him to hit some over-heads really worked,” Hannan said.

Hannan added that varying his shots also aided his win over Maller. 

“Pace, heavy balls and different spins really helped me today,” Hannan said.

Gilman junior Alex Nabit prevailed in No. 2 singles, 5-0, default, over sophomore Landon Tamaddon while senior Lleyton Cathell topped McDonogh sophomore Gil Boker, 6-3, 6-3, for the singles’ sweep.

Sophomore Anton Grib and freshman Daniel Shou joined forces for the Greyhounds to defeat junior Spencer Park and sophomore Nathan Huang, 6-4, 5-7 (10-5) in the No. 1 doubles after senior Nick Sun and sophomore Jack Jaffe had recorded a 6-0, 6-2 verdict over McDonogh senior Max Antwerpen and freshman Jonathan Lee in No. 2 doubles.

Gilman coach Steve Krulevitz agreed with Hannan that ending the streak may have been beneficial in the long run for his team.

“The streak was getting to be too much,” the former Park School and UCLA star said.

Krulevitz added that his team was ready to play on Thursday.

“They wanted to make amends for last year,” he said. “Obviously, they didn’t play as well as they should have, but Calvert Hall made them play that way. They were disappointed in that.”

He said that the 2024 season “got off to a rocky start” in some non-league matches until the Greyhounds turned it on and posted a 7-0 record against A Conference foes, including a 5-0 decision over Loyola Blakefield in a semifinal on Wednesday.

“it was probably the loosest team I’ve coached in 12 years,” Krulevitz continued. “These guys were having fun, enjoying each other’s company and, when the league started, they flipped. They got down to business. The bottom line is, even though they were favored — they felt like underdogs and they had something to prove. And I think they proved it.”