Mullins brothers lead Cold Spring Harbor to Nassau tennis title
Conor Mullins of Cold Spring Harbor hits a volley at the USTA National Tennis Center in the second round of the Boys New York State Tennis Championships. (May 31, 2013) Credit: Steven Ryan
For Cold Spring Harbor, perhaps the most crucial point the team won came in a losing effort.
Buoyed by the dominant play of its first two singles players, Conor and Sean Mullins, Cold Spring Harbor survived its toughest test of the season, knocking off previously unbeaten Syosset, 4-3, in the Nassau boys Conference I tennis championship on Monday at Garden City High School.
It was the second-doubles match between A.J. Arena and Nick Stamatos of Cold Spring Harbor (11-0) and Nikhil Raj and Spencer Lowitt of Syosset (14-1) that helped swing the match in the Seahawks' favor, coach Ben Marks said.
Raj and Lowitt won the first set, 6-1, before Arena and Stamatos rallied to take the second set, 7-6, with a 7-4 tiebreaker. Though Raj and Lowitt took the third set, 6-2, Marks said that second set shifted momentum.
"The atmosphere changed a little bit after they were able to get that second set and it helped the other doubles teams settle down," Marks said. "It definitely lifted the crowd and the fans."
Senior Conor Mullins, who won the individual county doubles title this week with J.P. Paris, beat Syosset's Daniel Shleimovich, 6-2, 6-2, at first singles. His brother, sophomore Sean Mullins, beat Henry Tell, 6-0, 6-1, at second singles as the Seahawks won their seventh straight county title.
"I thought it was very important for me to come out and show positive energy and play well and set the tone for the rest of the day and get everyone's energy up," Conor Mullins said.
