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Members of the Friends Academy boys tennis team pose for...

Members of the Friends Academy boys tennis team pose for a group picture after winning the NYSPHSAA Division II championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing on June 13. Credit: James Escher

For the Friends Academy boys tennis team, the 2025 season proved a triumph of character.

In both 2023 and 2024, the Quakers played their way into the state small schools team title match and went head-to-head with the Section I champion, only to come away with a bitter taste of defeat. It was fertile ground for a culture of despondence to set in. Instead, the 2025 Quakers blossomed with determination.

“There was a belief that we had from the outset of the season that winning the state championship was something we could accomplish,” junior Matt Bohner said. “We’d been good enough to win both years and lost close matches to great teams at the end. There was no reason that if we could be playing our best at the end, we should lose again.”

Friends Academy arrived at the USTA National Tennis Center on June 13 playing its best, as promised, and it did not lose this time. After shutting out Suffolk champion Ross in the Long Island title match, it quickly dispatched upstate Skaneateles in a semifinal and then prevailed in a hotly-contested final against Section I champion Bryam Hills, 3-2, to claim its first state crown.

“Returning players had more experience and more confidence,” senior Henry Koelmel said. “There was a winning chemistry taking hold. We were determined.”

Assigned to rigorous Conference I in Nassau's ability-based divisions, the Quakers (12-7) spent the regular season playing larger schools in a seven-match format (small schools play a five-match format) and held their own by going 7-7. Toughened by the experience, they emerged stronger in the shorter format of the state tournament.

“What we had believed got real when we beat Port Washington – who is always deep and strong – by winning the fourth doubles match,” Koelmel said. “The feeling of camaraderie was so strong.”

“Port Washington is a team that none of us on the team had ever beaten so it felt crazy to us,” senior Ved Rawat said. “Something like that happens and you feel like anything is possible. We’d done a good job turning the page [on 2023 and 2024] and our focus got even sharper.”

In the shorter format, ninth-grader Hudson Lee moved from singles to doubles and, teamed with eighth grader Steven Seviroli, became a force that didn’t lose a postseason match.

“Hudson has become more confident and more aggressive and a bigger leader,” said Bohner, who also didn’t lose a postseason match playing first singles. “He knows he’s the best player on the court in every match.”

The state championship came down to the third doubles match and the play of junior Vir Vinnay Singh and sophomore Blake Doan. They were the portrait of resilience after losing the opening set in a tiebreaker by pulling out a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3 victory.

“We felt we had something playing the bigger schools (in the regular season), because were in almost every match,” Quakers coach Owen Kassimir said. “And when the lineup changed for the state [tournament], we were an even stronger team. . . . They came together to accomplish something together. I couldn’t be prouder of a team.”

ROAD TO THE STATE TITLE

Nassau semifinals: def. North Shore, 5-0

Nassau championship: def. Wheatley, 3-2.

Long Island championship: def. Ross, 3-0.

State semifinal: def. Skaneateles (Section III), 4-1.

State championship: def. Byram Hills (Section I), 3-2.

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