Viking tennis team practices optimism

By: Rich Fisher
   If practice makes perfect, what does a good "practice season" make?
   Evidently, the South Brunswick High tennis team will find out if coach Barbara Whitman’s analysis is correct.
   "We’ve had a tremendously successful practice season, I don’t know how else to put it," Whitman said. "We’ve done a lot of challenge matches, the weather has cooperated and the players have worked out very hard. They are all very motivated.
   "Most of the girls have played all summer, and most of them have taken lessons indoors. They’re all involved in the sport and you can see the tremendous improvement. I guess they’ve gotten the bug, they’re really involved."
   Despite the fact there is not a senior on the roster, Whitman is optimistic that the Vikes can have a winning season because so many of the underclassmen have varsity experience.
   The veteran coach was hesitant to announce a starting lineup for Friday’s opening match with J.P. Stevens, but realizes that her returning veterans will carry the brunt of the load. That cast includes juniors Kalpana Sampale, Sandhya Prasad, Kareisha Questel, Megha Parikh, Netra Prasad and Kirthika Sutharsanam, and sophomore, Brittany McMurren.
   Sampale went 4-12 at second singles last year, while Prasad was 6-11 and third singles. Both were forced to move up because of injuries. At doubles, Sutharsanam and Parikh were 10-7 at first doubles.
   Other possibilities to be in the mix this year include juniors Nisha Dholakia and Liha Patel and sophomores Elaine Chu and Pinar Comezoglu.
   Newcomers to the varsity feature Rupali Bhagat, Richa Sapra, Nidhi Sondhi, and Tara Singh, while a deep freshman class includes Veronica Khalli, Susan O’Shea, Kristen Bondi, Amanda Grave, Rachel Klem, Shravani Durbhakula and Munira Moochalla.
   "We have no seniors on the team, but we have a lot of freshman who are going to stay with us," said Whitman, the program’s founder who is now in her 28th year as its coach. "There was a very big interest in the freshman class. Tennis is very popular in the community now. We’ll keep a lot of them and hopefully they’ll develop over the year."
   For the second straight year, standout Katie O’Shea looks like she will miss the season due to injury, but Whitman thinks there is enough talent to survive O’Shea’s absence.
   "We had a good season last year, but we were very young," Whitman said of a team that finished 6-11 and finished fourth in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division and fifth in the GMC Tournament. "This year, there are no beginners in the starting lineup. We have what I would call a really solid team. We don’t have any weak spots in our lineup.
   "The girls are terrific and we’re having a lot of fun out there. Everyone is just really comfortable with each other. And the families have all been great, and very supportive."
   The Vikes, who won the GMC Red Division Sportsmanship Award last year, will again compete in the Red, which has been dominated by East Brunswick and Old Bridge.
   "East Brunswick is always the team to beat and Old Bridge should be pretty good also," Whitman said. "I’m just looking for the girls to really improve themselves. We always strive to play our best, whenever we’ve done that we’ve always come out on top,.
   "We just strive for excellence in everything we do. We’re extremely organized as a team, a very cohesive group. Everything we’ve done in preliminaries during the practice season should help to make us one of the stronger teams in the conference. I’m looking for a really good year."
   Afterall, the Vikes have already had a really good "practice year."