Ross School sweeps Port Jefferson 7-0, showcasing tennis depth

Ross School’s 7-0 sweep of Port Jefferson was the kind of result that says more about a program than a single afternoon. Rodrigo Villanueva Aquino and Lucien Dangin closed the door at fourth doubles with a 6-4, 6-2 win, but the bigger story was the balance behind them: Ross did not need one runaway singles performance or a late tiebreak rescue to finish the job.

That matters on the South Fork, where school tennis success often reflects how deep a program can go from the top of the lineup to the bottom. A shutout leaves no doubt about the Ravens’ range, and the Port Jefferson win added another clean line to a spring run that has already shown Ross can handle different kinds of opposition. In spring 2025, Ross beat Connetquot 7-0 and Ward Melville 5-2 while going unbeaten in divisional play, and the Ravens have spent the past two seasons turning depth into a calling card.

The foundation for that durability is as much about structure as it is about talent. Ross says its Tennis Center has six Har-Tru courts enclosed by a bubble from mid-fall through mid-spring, giving players year-round access in East Hampton. The center is open to Ross students and the public, with adult programs, private and group lessons, court rentals, after-school training, summer training, and pre- and post-season camps. In March, Ross named Richele LeSaldo as director of the Ross School Tennis Center, a role that covers coaching, player development, college recruitment, team management, staff leadership, and facility operations.

The competitive ceiling is already established. Ross won the Suffolk County small schools title in 2024, edging Bayport-Blue Point 4-3 and finishing 15-0. That same season, senior Eduardo Menezes won the Suffolk County boys singles championship and reached the state quarterfinals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, a run that marked the first time in almost half a century that a boys player from the area had advanced that far.

Put together, the Port Jefferson shutout, the championship hardware, and the year-round training infrastructure point to a program built for more than local noise. Ross has become one of the East End’s clearest tennis pipelines, and this spring’s 7-0 result suggested the Ravens are still adding layers to a team that already looks built to contend well beyond Suffolk County.