Whitman sets highest goal for GMC tennis tournament
By: Rich Fisher
Barbara Whitman was asked where she would like her South Brunswick High tennis team to finish in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, which begins 9 a.m. Friday at Middlesex County College.
She answered quickly, but re-evaluated her thoughts just as fast.
"I think, I’d like a top-four finish…well, no…I want to be in the number one spot," Whitman said. "I’m going to shoot for number one. If you don’t shoot for it you can’t get there. You should always set your goals real high."
And why not? Since finally getting the chance to play some matches, the Vikings have performed well by winning three of four. Wins over Monroe (4-1), Woodbridge (3-2) and Edison (5-0) earned South Brunswick a berth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV Tournament. The Vikes fell to J.P. Stevens, 5-0, on Tuesday, putting their record at 4-3 entering Wednesday’s match with Old Bridge.
"I think the girls are playing really, really well," Whitman said. "It’s like I’ve been saying, we’re solid all the way through the lineup."
South Brunswick qualified for the states last Wednesday by taking a 3-2 victory over Woodbridge. Although she did not know it at the time, Kareisha Questel’s third singles match with Betsey Varghese had the Vikings state tournament hopes hanging in the balance.
If Questel lost, so did the Vikes, who would have dropped to 2-3 and been under the necessary .500 qualifying mark at the cutoff date. But she battled in a marathon, taking a 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker) 7-5 victory to land SBHS in the states. The second set was tied at 5-5 before Questel pulled out the final two games.
"It was a real good match," Whitman said. "And a very exciting point to win it. Kareisha didn’t know how important it was. I didn’t tell them we were in the states until after the match, so they were excited about it."
Even the loss to Stevens South’s second straight 5-0 defeat to the Hawks this year provided a glint of optimism.
"Second singles went three sets, second doubles went three sets and first doubles lost their first set on a tie-breaker," Whitman said. "We definitely had a chance of winning, and these were much better scores than our first match with them.
"There was a possibility during the match we could have won and when we played them the first time we didn’t have that possibility, so we really have improved. Maybe we’ll have a chance to see them again in the GMC’s."
They will find out soon enough, as the GMC’s are less than 24 hours away. Whitman feels the first doubles team of Kirthika Suharsanam and Megha Parikh (5-2 record entering the Old Bridge match), which is seeded third, has a good shot at reaching the finals. The duo will play Carteret’s Lisa DiMascio-Jessica Scerbo.
Whitman also likes the chances of the fourth-seeded, second doubles squad of Brtittany McMurren-Netra Prasad (4-3), who meet Middlesex’s Olah-Owens.
In singles play, Kalpana Sampale (2-5) is unseeded and has a preliminary round match against South River’s Jen Rosini. Second singles Sandhya Prasad (3-4) is seeded seventh and will meet Carteret’s Ashley Canton, while eighth-seeded Questel (4-3) takes on North Brunswick’s Kelly Young.
"I’m happy with the seedings," Whitman said. "The only people ahead of us at first doubles are East Brunswick and J.P. Stevens. And at second doubles, only three teams are ahead of us, so we should have a pretty good chance there. Our first doubles teams are extraordinarily good."
Nor does the coach count out any of her singles players making a strong run.
"Our whole team is very smart in knowing where to place the ball," Whitman said. "Kuppy (Sampale) is moving the ball around. She has a two-handed forehand and two-handed background and she’s very powerful, and she’s beginning to move a lot more on the court. Kareisha won against Edison with some powerful serves.
"I think we definitely can compete with most of the teams in the conference. East Brunswick, J.P. Stevens and Old Bridge will be the toughest competition."
But Whitman wants to shoot for the stars, just like some of her players.
"My second doubles player (McMurren), is talking about playing first singles next year. That’s what I like to hear. Some people just try to make the varsity, but now they’re thinking about getting higher positions in the lineup. You should always set your goals high."
And Whitman is setting them as high as possible for the GMC’s.

