Doubles teams key triumph over Voorhees
By: Rudy Brandl
A long and busy week of action had a very happy ending for the Hillsborough High girls’ tennis team.
Playing with a patchwork lineup, the Raiders persevered and battled for a 3-2 victory over Voorhees on Friday afternoon. That victory was even sweeter since the team had dropped a heart-breaking 3-2 setback against Hunterdon Central earlier in the week. Hillsborough was coming off a 5-0 loss to powerful Watchung Hills, but Friday’s victory sent everyone home for a happy weekend.
"We’re ecstatic," HHS head coach Sylvia Scozzari said. "Our lineup was all messed up and we still beat them. Everybody is improving and I feel really good about the win."
There were four firsts at work in the Raider lineup vs. Voorhees. The match marked the first time Catherine Kinrade played first singles, the first time Jen Wagner competed at third singles, the first time Sara Lavell and Carolyn Chen teamed up at first doubles and the first time Michelle Ormsby played a varsity match.
Regular first singles player Katie Merriam was ill, so Scozzari had to make a few alterations to her lineup. The coach tried to keep everything as simple as possible, but there were a few decisions to make. Sliding Kinrade and Kristen Shoop up to the first two singles spots was easy. Wagner occupies the fourth slot on the team ladder, so she earned the right to play third singles.
That left the doubles teams, which have become an integral force on this year’s team. Lavell and Chen have played well together at second doubles and the Wagner-Erin Aiello team has been productive at first doubles. Scozzari didn’t want to disrupt any of the doubles chemistry.
"I didn’t want to break up my doubles teams," she said. "Our doubles teams have been doing great. They both won at Central, but I had to move Jen up to third singles and bring up a jayvee player. Michelle came up and played real well."
Ormsby and Aiello scored a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sara Mizak and Hayley Severance to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead on the team scoreboard. Wagner had already made short work of Charisma Lanez in back-to-back 6-1 sets.
Wagner didn’t look like the typical steady backboard third singles player that’s become so common on the high school level. She was a bit more aggressive and forceful in winning her points.
"She’s just playing great tennis," Scozzari said of Wagner. "She’s got a great return and she goes to the net. She wasn’t at the baseline. She’d hit a couple and then make a move."
Kinrade played a fine match in her first competition at the top spot, dropping a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Katie Hertling. Shoop fell in straight sets and the Vikings pulled even at 2-2, leaving the match to be decided at first doubles.
Lavell and Chen came out on top in a close one, winning a second set tie-breaker to clinch the team victory. The HHS girls took the first set 6-2 but had to fight back from behind to force a tie-breaker, which they eventually won by a 7-3 score over Jen Schuetz and Sara Wooley.
"They came out, they were aggressive and they did all the right things," Scozzari said. "The girls on the other team kind of caught on to what we were doing, so we had to adjust some things and be a little more patient. We were making a lot of unforced errors but the girls got it together and won a tie-breaker."
Lavell and Chen erased 4-5 and 5-6 deficits to force a tie-breaker. If Voorhees somehow managed to take that second set, the match could have ended in a draw since darkness was looming.
The Raiders (4-6) have two more busy weeks to complete their season. They still have to play Bridgewater and Montgomery, but there are also two matches against Phillipsburg and one vs. Warren Hills remaining on the schedule.
If the improvement continues, the Raiders may have a shot at a .500 season. Friday’s win provided a good start in that direction.
"It was a very long week," Scozzari said. "We had three matches and it was nice to end the week the way we did."
NOTES Merriam, Kinrade and the Wagner-Aiello tandem each won two matches in the Somerset County Tournament before being knocked out by Pingry players … Wagner and Aiello came from behind in their first round match to take a three-hour, three-set win over Mount St. Mary’s after losing the first set 2-6 … Merriam and Kinrade rolled to a pair of straight set wins before being eliminated by seeded players from Pingry.