South River girls tennis team has a bright future
Young squad
will return its seven starters next year
This fall constituted a rebuilding year for the South River High School girls tennis team, which finished up the 2001 campaign with a 6-12 record.
It’s also been a recuperating year for Coach Bill Csatari, who underwent a serious back operation over the summer, and then missed the first week of school with an inner ear infection that drastically threw off his balance.
"That was crucial because it meant that we went eight days without a practice, and we wound up losing some kids who would have gone out for the team," said Csatari, who has no assistant and thus no one to fill in when he’s sidelined.
"Even when I went back, watching the balls go back and forth on the court made me physically sick," added the coach, who has only recently recovered.
The Rams lacked depth this year. In fact, they had no bench at all, relying only on their seven starters, which featured some inexperienced players. But everyone on the squad, Csatari said, "got significantly better" as the year wore on.
South River did have a returning first singles starter in sophomore Jennifer Csatari, the coach’s daughter, who won seven matches, four better than last year’s total.
"The big thing was that against some of the people she played early in the season, she came back and beat them," Csatari said. "Her serve has really improved. She aced a lot of people."
At second singles, Nikki Kostrevski, junior, went winless in her first year as a starter, but gained valuable experience, according to her coach.
At number three, freshman Becky Gerhartz showed considerable potential, winning five of her matches this fall.
Csatari got an excellent campaign out of his first doubles duo of seniors Allison Zarski and Crystal Alban, who returned from last year with a fine 13-5 record.
"Our second doubles team of junior Lucy Elliott and senior Tina Bijas went 6-12," Csatari added. "They worked out well for us, considering that they were softball players who had never played tennis before."
So despite all the things working against his team, Csatari feels the girls still managed to have a solid season. And more importantly, he feels that the program will reap the benefits of this year’s rebuilding process in the near future.
With all the girls coming back next year, South River’s tennis team is sure to notch more wins.