LAKEWOOD, N.Y. — Warren’s boys tennis team is 4-2 in Region 2 after edging Fairview, 3-2, on Saturday at the Lakewood Family YMCA.

“Matches between these teams are always intense, and this is one the boys were looking forward to,” said Warren coach Thomas Pellegrino. “This has been a rivalry for years and always provides some great tennis.”

Grabbing the first win of the day was Warren’s doubles pair of Ben Scott and Jack Lynds; they defeated Simon Biggs and Charlie Allen, 6-1, 1-6, 6-0.

“Some interesting scores, I know, but our guys started off hot and really took the first set by storm by playing aggressive and being disruptive at the net,” said Pellegrino. “Fairview made an adjustment in set two to slow down the pace and, by the time our boys figured it out, it was too late. Going into set three, our guys kicked it up a notch and were barely giving up points. Big serves, aggressive net play, and very limited errors led to a dominant 6-0 set, and gave Warren the first team point.”

Next off the court was Lucas Thrift as he fell to Ayash Bharath, 2-6, 4-6, at second singles, tying the match at one game apiece.

Warren’s Adam Strandburg moved the team score to 2-1 by taking out Tegan Rucks, 6-4, 6-3, in the first singles slot.

“Adam played great today and you could tell his experience paid off in this one,” said Pellegrino. “He stayed calm in the big moments and knew when to pressure his opponent.”

With the match at 2-1, the win would come at the hands of third singles or second doubles to close out the match.

Senior Brody Alexander stepped up to the challenge and sealed the win for the Dragons as he defeated Tanmay Sharma, 6-3, 6-3.

“I loved this win from Brody because of what he told me after his warm-up,” said Pellegrino. “He didn’t want the pressure to fall on two first-year starters at (second doubles). He was confident in his play and told me from the start he was going to get it done and, sure enough, he did just that by playing some of his best tennis of the season.”

With the match won at 3-1 and after splitting the first two sets, second doubles played out a third-set tie-breaker with Jaxon Thrift and Owen Baldensperger falling, 5-7, 6-3, 4-10, to Pranay Golla and Caleb Nallaraha.

“This match was won due to senior leadership,” said Pellegrino, whose Dragons are 8-2 overall. “Adam, Brody, Jack, and Ben stepped up big for their team when they needed them most and are the reason we came out with a win. We are always happy with a win over Fairview, but we still believe we have room for improvement. We had opportunities to win this match 5-0, but couldn’t quite piece things together as a full unit. We aim to make some quick adjustments as we have another busy week with Grove City, Erie High, and St Marys this week.”