Woodland’s Roulanaitis advances in NVLs

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Woodland’s No. 1 singles player Mike Roulanaitis advanced to the semifinals of the NVL individual tournament. –FILE PHOTO
Woodland’s No. 1 singles player Mike Roulanaitis advanced to the semifinals of the NVL individual tournament. –FILE PHOTO

BEACON FALLS — The Naugatuck Valley League boys individual tennis tournament began on Monday at Woodland with the best of the best going at it across the net.

Each NVL team got to send two singles players and two doubles teams with the semifinals and finals Wednesday in Wolcott.

Woodland’s senior captain and No. 1 singles player Mike Roulanaitis advanced to the semifinals with a first round win over Joe Paduano of Wilby, 8-1, and a second-round win over Torrington’s Scott Dixon, 6-4, 6-2.

“The No. 1 singles group is filled with talented players,” Woodland head coach Charlie Ostrander said. “Mike faced off three times this season against [Dixon] and fell behind (4-1) early. Mike battled back and took control of the match winning five straight games at one point.”

Woodland’s Josh Powanda in Group B earned an 8-1 win over Crosby’s John Gega in the preliminary round. He was taken the distance dropping a tough 9-8 decision to Watertown’s Sagan Butwell in the first round.

“Josh showed no fear going up against the No. 2 seed Sagan Butwell and actually had an early 4-0 lead,” Ostrander said. “There was a lot of players and coaches watching the match and Josh came close to pulling off the upset of the season.”

The Woodland doubles team of Chris Pinevich and Nick Hudson won 8-2 over Wilby’s Joe Danay and Ken Eren in the preliminary round. They were then upended, 8-0, by Wolcott’s Jay Caggiano and Ryan Collins.

The Hawks’ No. 2 team of James Nelson and Nick Lucas earned an 8-2 win in the preliminary round over Crosby’s Dinesh Ramjit and James Jorge. They then fell, 8-1, to Wolcott’s tandem of Alex Hale and Jackson Yost.

The Naugatuck boys had a good showing picking up two wins, but didn’t move on to the semifinal rounds.

Matt Triscritti won a preliminary round in Group B singles with an 8-4 decision over Brennan Sanders of Sacred Heart. Triscritti lost a first round match, 8-0, to Matt Spina of Wolcott.

In Group A, Naugatuck’s P.J. Morrissey dropped an 8-2 decision to Torrington’s Scott Dixon in the first round.

In doubles play, the Group B tandem of Michael Rivera and Jared Montini defeated Kennedy’s Franklin Rusi and Camilo Barrera, 8-6, and then fell, 6-1, 6-2, in the second round to Wolcott’s Alex Hale and Jackson Yost.

In the first round of Group A, the Greyhounds’ duo of Jonas Mauermann and Marco Rebelo dropped a tough 9-7 decision to Torrington’s Billy Weber and Ryan Nadar.

The NVL girls individual tournament starts Wednesday.