Newtown High School's girls' and boys' tennis teams both had some success and tasted defeat against tough South-West Conference foes this past week. Both teams handled Bunnell of Stratford on April 20, with the girls winning 6-1 at home and the boys coming out on top 7-0 on the road. The girls visited Brookfield the next day and prevailed 5-2. Both squads faced Weston on April 24; the girls were beaten 7-0 on the road and the boys lost 5-2 at home, suffering their first setback of the campaign.

In a battle of teams unbeaten in South-West Conference play, Weston's boy prevailed despite a strong Newtown battle. Top singles player Joey Conrod and No. 2 player Constantine Vogiatzis put up tremendous fights but were beaten in their matches.

The competitions at third and fourth singles proved to be tests of patience and perseverance, Newtown Coach Mike Stedronsky said. Newtown's Francesco Pelliccia defeated Weston's Charles Gosnell in a three-set showdown, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

"Francesco turned up the heat in the third set, showing no sign of nerve or hesitancy and rallied forward to take down a point for the team," the coach said.

Jackson Dooley of Newtown and Stephen Blinder of Weston played out a three-and-a-half hour, two-set match that had crowds from both teams on their feet cheering. Dooley prevailed 6-2, 7-6 (4).

"We call Jackson the grinder because he does not back down and he never gives up. He had his work cut out for him against a strong opponent Monday but he dug in hard and came out on top due to his tactics and resilience," Stedronsky said.

Weston clinched the match with wins on all three doubles courts. Matt Frazetta and Grant Larson of Newtown took on Weston's Jesse Kallins and Reid Brostoff. Both teams charged hard for the net in this matchup won by Weston.

"I feel like we played great tennis today but the other team played well too and they won because of it," said Larson said.

Newtown's No. 2 doubles team of Jordan Klein and Ben Futterman and No. 3 pairing of Nihar Soman and Stephen Dooley played hard in two-set losses.

"Weston is a tough team, they are every year; but we are a tough team too. They may have got the best of us this time, but our team walked off those courts a stronger, more experienced squad and for us that is what is most important right now," Stedronsky said.

In the boys' team's triumph over Bunnell, Conrod, Vogiatzis, Pellicia, and Dooley all swept 6-0, 6-0 matches. Larsen and Klein won 6-1, 6-0, Frazzetta and Futterman won 6-0, 6-0, and Soman and Steven Dooley won 6-0, 6-1.

The girls defeated visiting Bunnell of Stratford 6-1 on April 20. Marie Ann Tomaj dropped her match at first singles, 7-5, 6-4. Amanda Berry won her match 6-1, 6-1, Amanda Conrod also won 6-1, 6-1, and Megan Cooney prevailed 6-2, 2-6, 13-11. In doubles play, Emily McCoy and Tessa Leon-Gambetta won 6-0, 6-0, Sophie Wolfman and Julia Anderson won 6-3, 6-4, and Simran Chand and Hayley Lambert were victorious 6-3, 6-4.

In the match with Brookfield, Newtown's singles winners were Conrod and Cooney, both by 6-1, 6-1 scores, and Klein, who won 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. In doubles play, McCoy and Leon-Gambetta prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, Wolfman and Anderson won 6-1, 6-2.