When the Shore Conference Tennis Tournament begins today, Karen Goldwater’s Patriots won’t be hitting the road.
In a sign of the Pats’ newly earned stature, they will be hosting Monmouth Regional at Liberty Oak Park in Freehold Township as the No. 5 seed in their first-round game.
The Township Pats earned their lofty seed by beating Marlboro 4-1 on Sept. 19.
Freehold Township didn’t just break a hex when the Patriots beat Marlboro for the first time ever in girls’ tennis. The Patriots sent a message to the rest of the Shore Conference that they are on the rise.
The Patriots were among the Shore’s best last year, and with everyone in the starting lineup back, they figured to be tough again. But just how tough was the question. They were a team searching for an identity which they seem to have found this year in their performance on the court.
"The girls came back very prepared," said Goldwater. "We’re a grittier team this year. They’ll battle out there.
"We talked about the things that we can do and that we needed to get the job done," she added.
They did just that at Liberty Oak Park when they beat Marlboro and took a leap into the big time. The 4-1 score was misleading. Two of the Patriot wins came in three-set marathons that could have gone either way. It was a testament to their grittiness.
At first singles, senior co-captain Lauren Siciliano outlasted Jackie Haar, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
"Lauren is mentally a very, very tough player," said Goldwater. "She’s very steady and really strong willed. She hangs in there and finds a way to win."
Hallie Fleisher, a sophomore, won at third singles over Justine Wilkler, 6-2, 6-3, to give Freehold Township two points at singles.
Marlboro’s lone point came in three sets at second singles where Rachel Friedland rallying from a set down, beat Lauren Beck, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Township’s big breakthrough was at doubles. One of the edges that Marlboro has had over the years is the strength of its doubles teams. It could afford the loss here and there in singles and make up for it at doubles. However, in a signal of a changing of the guard, Freehold Township clinched its win by sweeping the doubles. Kacie Warner and Kim Ryan defeated Victoria Kaminskaya and Dana Sher, 6-2, 6-1 at first doubles while Danielle O’Rourke (senior co-captain with Siciliano) and Rachel Kallish won a three-set struggle with Laura Munice and Jamie Tzeiler, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
"I think our first doubles team is going to surprise a lot of people," noted Goldwater. "They are very good."
Freehold Township was back on the court the very next day beating Neptune, 5-0, to run their record to 5-0 on the season.
Marlboro, long the team that everyone in the District and the Shore Conference, for that matter, measured themselves against, is still a very competitive team. The Mustangs were seeded No. 8 and will begin play in the SCT against Ocean today. No one should be writing the Mustangs off just yet. Dave Kretzmer, who takes over for the retired Bev Ginglen, has a team lacking in experience, but not heart. Marlboro is off to a 3-1 start.
Ginglen’s final edition of the Mustangs went 17-2, winning the Shore Conference A North title and reached the finals at the Shore Conference Tournament and Central Jersey Group IV playoffs. The stars, Hsing-Ling Lee, Laura Greenberg and Lauren Cohen at singles and Jenni Lipman, have graduated.
The only returnees are Haar and Friedland, who played doubles last year. That’s not a good sign; however, Marlboro has had a history of turning good doubles players into winning singles players. Both Haar and Friedland were winners at doubles and know what it’s like to play in big matches. Friedland showed that in her comeback win over Beck.
Haar and Lipman were one of the best first doubles teams in the state. They won the Monmouth County and War at the Shore titles and reached the quarterfinals at the state tournament.
Friedland teamed up with Lindsay Friedman at second doubles where they won many key matches for the Mustangs.
Manalapan (3-2) has been a perennial state playoff participant and the Braves should be headed back in that direction again. They drew the No. 14 seed and will travel to third-seeded Toms River North today. Junior Blair Weiss, in her second year at first singles, is one of the District’s best players. She came of age last year when she began to dominate opponents with her powerful ground strokes. The bad news for Brave opponents is that she is only getting better.
Danielle Ekstein, who plays second singles for the Braves, is also a veterans from last year’s club. Lindsay Cohen rounds out the Braves singles lineup.
At doubles, the Braves have Robin Elting and Natalie Weiss as the first team and at second doubles, Pam Goldstein and Stephanie Rosen.
Colts Neck, which made the Central Jersey Group I tournament its first varsity season last fall, has moved into the Shore Conference where they play in the A Central Division. The Cougars return their lineup intact which will make the transition smoother. Led by Christina Caruso at first singles, the Cougars should again see the postseason.
Caruso wins matches with her tenacity and her mind. She outthinks and outlasts opponents with her dependable two-handed backhand. She went to the second round of the state tournament as a freshman.
Robyn Appel and Jessica D’Elia are solid singles players themselves as the second and third positions.
At double, the Cougars have Nicole Chaplin and Danielle Lionsky at first doubles and Basia DiGioa and Shannon Amann at second.
Howell High School is led by Katie Henriques at first singles. Stephanie Geraci and Jennie Chung round out the Rebels’ starting singles lineup. Katie Prisco adds depth at singles.
The doubles team of Kristi Jordan and Lisa DeStasio, who are seniors with experience, is a formidable unit. At second doubles the Rebels have Alica Regina and Linda Sabatello.
Freehold Borough which has been a consistent state playoff team will be looking to maintain that level this fall.
The Colonials look to the singles lineup of Casie Wombacher, Maggie Dugan and Dana Braff, and the doubles tandems of Sadaf Kazmi and Cara Wombacher, and Neha Jeurkar and Somja Tewanti.

