John Wojcik has coached high school tennis for 25 years.
Wojcik coached the Liverpool girls' team for 18 seasons. So far, he's coached the Cicero-North Syracuse boys for seven years.
In the past quarter of a century, coaching tennis, Wojcik has seen exponential growth between the two programs.
That includes the Northstars, a program that is heading in the right direction following a 5-2 win over Liverpool on Wednesday.
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"C-NS has always had a great program," Wojcik said. "It dropped off a bit when I took over in 2019, but we're starting to compete with everyone. We have players that buy in, work hard and listen to what we can accomplish."
The Northstars' third doubles of Jackson Dufort and Drew Errante — both seniors — clawed their way to a three-set victory.
The C-NS duo lost 6-4 in the opening set, but came away with victories in the second (6-4) and third (6-1) sets.
"I'm really proud of them," Wojcik said. "Liverpool's guys made our players work. (Dufort and Errante) adjusted well and quickly fixed some things after that first set."
In singles, C-NS's Parker Cook (6-3, 6-4) and Alex Kling (6-3, 6-2) each won in two sets.
Zarin Liangsiri and Austin Fosberg won 6-4 twice for the doubles victory, while Evan Scott and Joseph Johnston (6-3, 6-2) also picked up the win in two sets.
"We did pretty well," Wojcik said. "I'm ecstatic with how hard we fought. We don't try to do too many things outside the box. It's about having good footwork and hitting the ball in front of us."
Wojcik said that the Northstars responded well on Wednesday following a loss to Baldwinsville earlier in the week.
"It was a big win today, especially against a good team like Liverpool," Wojcik said. "I was nervous about our response, but it was really fulfilling and gratifying to see them do some pretty big things. I commend my players and credit them for stepping up. This program continues to grow every day."
Liverpool's Justin Barrett — the 2024 All-Central New York boys tennis player of the year — won his singles match in two sets (6-0, 6-0).
In doubles, Liverpool's Gideon Aitken and Raury Bienkowski were victorious in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-3).
The Northstars (3-1) face Fayetteville-Manlius on Monday. The Hornets are the defending Section III Class A champions.
