Silver medals equal gold for Raiders
By: Justin Feil
Charlotte Heyman and Kristen Casper agreed.
Silver is prettier than gold.
The only two seniors on the Hun girls’ tennis team and their teammates took home both after the Raiders finished second in all five flights but won the Mercer County Tournament team title, 30-29, over West Windsor-Plainsboro High South on Wednesday to break the Pirates’ string of five straight championships. Princeton Day School finished third with 22 points.
"We wanted it badly," said Casper, who teamed with Abby Kazdhan at second doubles. "We had a losing team so long, it’s nice to win."
It took all of Hun’s depth to do so. The Raiders advanced to the finals in every flight where Angela DiPastina fell to WW-PS’ Celene Chang at first singles, Erica Wood lost to WW-PS’ Pearly Leung at second singles, Heyman lost to WW-PS’ Victoria Vaynberg at third singles, Nina Licciardello and Victoria Kloss lost to Stuart’s Colleen Farrell and Jackie Cannon at first doubles and Casper and Kazdhan lost to Nottingham.
It was Hun’s first MCT championship since 1995, and the first time in the tournament’s 13-year history of the flight format that a team won the championship without having a flight winner.
"The fact that we’re pretty solid all the way through benefited us," said Joan Nuse, who is in her 15th season as Hun head coach. "The girls believed they could win. That factored in as well.
"We’re very deep. That was the thing. I had such a hard time making the lineup this year. So many girls were so close. As a result, the team wasn’t even set going into counties."
Casper and Kazdhan weren’t even seeded because they won a challenge match to move to the second doubles position the same day as the seeding meeting and had no record together. Heyman, who played second singles for Hun for the past two seasons, was bumped to third singles this year by Erica Wood, last year’s third singles player.
"Having Angela come in helps a lot," Heyman said. "I like playing third singles. There’s less pressure and Erica’s better at the position. She’s a lot more focused this year. Our first doubles plays a lot together and they’re playing well."
With such depth, its makes for an interesting problem. There’s as much competition to be on the team as the Raiders, who are 5-0 going into today’s match against Lawrenceville, have as a team in many matches.
"It’s a little strange, but the runner up at counties might be out in a week or so," Nuse said. "We just have a lot of good players."
And they came through Wednesday with just what Nuse had told them when the day began — if they advanced to the finals in every flight, no one could catch them. It was easier said than done, but she hopes it will pay off in the remainder of the season, particularly as Hun looks forward to the state tournament.
"They may have felt more tight than they looked," Nuse said her players’ first Wednesday matches. "I felt they relaxed a bit for their second matches. It was icing on the cake. They had already taken it.
"For the rest of the season, the main thing this will do is tell the girls that they can come back," she added. "They know they can be down and come back. That will be beneficial in the long run."
DiPastina rallied from a set down against PDS’ Alexis Jacobi to win in three sets in her semifinal match and Wood came all the way back from a 5-2 second set deficit to win in her semifinal. And the second doubles team had to go to a tiebreaker in the second set to win. Licciardello and Kloss defeated Kim Lee Lum and San Pal in a first doubles semifinals Wednesday for Hun’s only head-to-head win against WW-PS.
"We knew we just had to win our first matches," Casper said. "We almost split. We were down, 2-5, and we just said that there’s no way we’re playing a third set and then coming back to play another match later.
"The first match, we were winning it for the team. The second one (of the day) is for yourself."
While Casper and Heyman will not be around, next season may give Hun another chance at a team title and a chance at some individual gold medalists.
"It’s a little sad I won’t be here," Heyman said. "The team could be so much better next year. We’re a young team. I kind of wish I could see it next year."
"I just wouldn’t want to have to try out," Casper added. "There was a lot of competition this year. It’s going to be even tougher next year."
The returning Raiders will have this year’s experience to remember as they go after a second straight MCT next season. Silver might be the medal of choice this year for the individuals, but those silver-medal performances added up to one big team gold, and that’s not too bad looking either.
"It’s not that we’re the best at certain positions," Nuse said. "It’s our depth. We played well enough as a team to win the tournament."

