Competition makes you stronger.
Student athletes have regular opportunities to apply this powerful life lesson daily, whether in the classroom, in their respective sports, or in their future endeavors.
Quality competition can be found within a high school team’s schedule, especially for high school boys’ tennis teams like North Hunterdon Regional High School and Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Amongst their stacked schedules, both squads met on Thursday evening on the Lions’ campus for the first matchup of their Skyland Conference Raritan Division regular-season series.
After all, the Skyland Conference is arguably the Garden State’s premier boys’ tennis conference, especially with second-ranked Pingry School, ninth-ranked Montgomery High School, 13th-ranked Hillsborough High School, and 14th-ranked Hillsborough High School finding themselves within New Jersey’s rankings alone to round out the first full week of April.
Matchups like this make you stronger in the long run and are hard to beat, regardless of the final outcome of a match.
However, one setting may be better for competition in all high school sports: a team’s own campus.
For a deep program like Bridgewater-Raritan, which is figuring out its early identity after losing six seniors due to graduation one year ago, that competition rewarded the Panthers with their first key milestone on Thursday evening.
In a matchup pinning two teams both seeking their first victory of the 2026 season, Bridgewater-Raritan (1-3, 1-1) traveled to North Hunterdon (0-3, 0-2), which was swept in its first two matches and was shorthanded against the Panthers in the first match of their regular-season series. While the next men up for the Lions were battle-tested and prepared accordingly, the same was also true for a Bridgewater-Raritan squad that dropped its first two matches against Skyland Conference foes and was swept by 10th-ranked Summit High School in between.
Ultimately, the Panthers left no doubt with a 5-0 victory at North Hunterdon and dropped only 7 total games across their 5 courts Thursday, April 9, in Annandale.
“It’s always nice to get a win, especially in the division,” said Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Evan Rosenberg, who is in his third season guiding the Panthers. “Our first match against [division rival Watchung Hills Regional High School] was a lot of our guys’ first [varsity] match. As they continue to play, they will get match experience, become more natural out there, trust themselves, and trust each other. In practice, we also get our doubles pairs to work on their technique, communication, and connections with their teammates. Any game that we can get is good, but any practice time we can get is awesome, especially given the weather has been super cooperative. That is not something you can normally say in the spring.”
“We’re playing it by ear, and we’re continuing to get better every day.”
Although the last of the Panthers’ five courts had a little bit longer delay than usual to play on Thursday evening, that wait proved to be worth it for a Bridgewater-Raritan squad looking to build momentum and confidence for the Somerset County Boys’ Tennis Tournament, which starts at 9 a.m. Friday, April 17, at Pingry School in Basking Ridge.
Due to North Hunterdon only having four tennis courts on the corner of its campus, the fifth and final court (second doubles), pinning the duo of Bridgewater-Raritan sophomores Anshuman Roy and Aashish Anumolu against the duo of North Hunterdon freshman Quinn Piekarski and junior Aaden Hsu did not start until one of the previous four matchups concluded.
They ultimately stepped onto the court for their 10-minute warmup after the conclusion of first singles, which was won by Bridgewater-Raritan senior Gurucharan Mannur over North Hunterdon freshman Liam Rogan, 6-1, 6-1. Shortly afterward, the three remaining courts that were in progress at the time reached their conclusions in favor of the Panthers.
Bridgewater-Raritan senior Devon Patel won second doubles, 6-0, 6-2, over North Hunterdon sophomore Layne Kelly, while junior Kairav Mehta rounded off the Panthers’ singles courts by defeating North Hunterdon junior Harshith Kudikala in third singles, 6-1, 6-0.
In first doubles, Bridgewater-Raritan’s duo of senior Rishi Chary and junior Curtis Chang defeated North Hunterdon freshman Cole Fineugurra and sophomore Evan Vartak, 6-2, 6-1, to set the stage for the second doubles finale.
While the overall match result was already decided in favor of Bridgewater-Raritan, naturally, the Panthers and Lions’ second doubles duos had a little bit more pressure on them than usual, with all eyes starting to make their way to the court where first singles once stood.
Along with players, coaches, and spectators from both squads, groups of the venue’s spectators, along with staff from a North Hunterdon campus on Spring Break, began to flock over to the second doubles. The Annandale location would have otherwise been mostly deserted had it not been for the nearby softball game pinning the Lions against Skyland Conference Delaware Division rival Pingry School, which broke open a one-run game with four runs in the sixth inning and defeated North Hunterdon, 6-2, to remain undefeated.
Even though there were a lot of spectators at the softball field, there were still noticeably plenty of people at North Hunterdon’s tennis courts. Furthermore, two sets of bleachers above the tennis courts provided for an optimal and comfortable viewing experience for the second doubles finale.
With all eyes on them, it was probably a different feeling for those who were playing.
“It was definitely kind of nerve-wracking, but it also makes you strong in a way,” described of this feeling afterwards by Anumolu, who completed the Panthers’ sweep of the evening to the tune of a 6-1, 6-0 victory in second doubles with Roy.
“You know that you have your teammates’ encouragement behind you.”
As this was also the duo’s first court victory, this achievement will go a long way, given that both of Bridgewater-Raritan’s two double courts from last year are in the process of being replaced.
Aditya Shetty and Kanaya Mehta: the Panthers’ regular second-doubles duo from one year ago, both were amongst Bridgewater-Raritan’s six Class of 2025 graduates. Patel moved up to second singles after playing first doubles last year consistently with Nicholas Brauchle, who also graduated from Bridgewater-Raritan High School after last spring’s season concluded.
While the Panthers finished with a deceiving 3-11 record last year, they were members of the aforementioned Skyland Conference Delaware Division before swapping places with Watchung Hills in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division to launch 2026. Although seven of last year’s losses were sweeps against these Skyland Conference foes, who were also amongst New Jersey’s top-ranked boys’ tennis squads last season, Bridgewater-Raritan’s perseverance was rewarded when it mattered most.
The Panthers won their state tournament opener against Elizabeth High School, 5-0, in their most dominant victory of the season before falling at eventual North 2, Group 4 state sectional runner-up Columbia High School, 4-1, in the quarterfinal round.
With the Panthers looking to pick up where they left off after last year, competition within their program will be a huge part of that process, especially given all five courts in a high school junior varsity (J.V.) tennis match are doubles.
Not only is there a lot of competition amongst opposing teams. Given spots on their varsity lineups that are at stake, that natural in-house competition is even more powerful at the J.V. level.
“I played first doubles on J.V. last year,” explained Roy of his freshman campaign and his journey to being a varsity starter. “You have five pairings in order from one through five. Even though the scores may not be recorded, you still have a lot of good matches along with a lot of intense and close competition. It was really great to get into all of those matches, and I think that has definitely trained me for varsity, especially doubles. Before that, I wasn’t as fluent or comfortable.”
“Now, I’ve definitely gained some experience with volleys, serves, and everything.”
Through four matches in 2026, there has been at least one change amongst the four slots available (two first doubles, two second doubles) within the Panthers’ doubles pairings. Anumolu and Roy both played first doubles against Watchung Hills, which won 4-1 at Bridgewater-Raritan back on March 26 to open the season, while Chary and Chang both played second doubles. Against Summit on April 2, both duos traded places, but Chary and Chang have remained in the first doubles slot since. In the Panthers’ division opener the next day against Rutgers Preparatory School, which won 4-1, Roy stepped in at third singles. Anumolu played to a 6-2, 6-4 victory in second doubles with Bridgewater-Raritan senior Manjeet Goyal.
“J.V. was definitely fun, but varsity is definitely a whole new level,” Anumolu revealed of his early varsity experience. “All of the players are so much better, but playing second doubles on varsity is just a great experience, especially playing with Anshuman. This is our first year on varsity, so our first win together feels really nice, especially at an away game.”
“The bus ride back is going to be fun.”
This set the stage for Anumolu and Roy’s victory at North Hunterdon: the first for Bridgewater-Raritan via their respective doubles pairing with each other.
The leader of the Panthers’ J.V. boys’ squad is assistant coach Zach Bray, who has served as a regular varsity girls’ soccer assistant coach to Sean Casey in the fall. In each of the past two seasons, Bridgewater-Raritan fell in the Somerset County Girls’ Soccer Tournament semifinals at eventual champion Rutgers Preparatory School: the country’s No. 1 high school girls’ soccer team. The Panthers also concluded each of the past two years with a pair of close 1-0 losses in the state sectional finals to Westfield High School to the tune of a combined 30-14-1 record and a division crown in 2024.
Clearly, his experience guiding the Panthers on the soccer field in the fall has translated to success on the tennis courts in the spring.
“Coach Bray is awesome, and he is just a great teacher and coach in general,” praised Rosenberg of his chief boys’ assistant coach. “He is so knowledgeable, our kids love him, and he has a lot of them in class. They have a lot of respect for him. He is a great tennis player himself, and he has really good technical knowledge of the game. The things he is able to do with our kids on the J.V. courts definitely translates to the varsity level.”
“It’s obviously a big step from J.V. to varsity, but when you have a coach at that level who can prepare the kids the way he does, it makes the transition a lot easier for them.”
Especially with the competition he and Coach Rosenberg regularly facilitate.
Before this Friday’s Somerset County Boys’ Tennis Tournament, Bridgewater-Raritan (1-3, 1-1) will look to tune up next against Hunterdon Central Regional High School (2-0, 0-0) at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at the Green Knoll Tennis Center in Bridgewater. The Panthers will then travel to ninth-ranked Montgomery (2-1) at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Skillman before returning home at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 16, for a division matchup against Franklin Township High School (2-0, 1-0).
“The first couple of games have been a learning experience, and we went up against some really good teams,” concluded Roy of the Panthers’ start to 2026. “We’ve learned a lot from them, and we want to keep on doing that as we go on towards the season. [Against North Hunterdon], we just wanted to keep on doing what our team was doing and finish what they were starting. We wanted to keep up the good progress and not lose gas on the steam.”
“We want to keep on building momentum with wins such as this.”