BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
For the second consecutive year, Marlboro High School’s girls tennis team saw its state championship aspirations squelched by Cherry Hill East (CHE).
At Mercer County Park, West Windsor, on Oct. 25, in a duel between the state’s fourth- and fifth-ranked teams, it was defending Group IV state champion Cherry Hill East that prevailed, 3-2.
It was the first loss of the season for Marlboro (20-1), ranked fifth in the state, while Cherry Hill East improved to 15-2 and moved on to the Tournament of Champions.
The defeat left coach Dave Kretzmer and his team wondering what if?
“It really came down to chance,” he said. “We had two tough matches.”
As chance would have it, Marlboro, the Central Jersey champion, drew powerful J.P. Stevens, the North Jersey Section I winner in its semifinal, and played in the morning, while South Jersey champion CHE got the N.J. Section II winner, Morristown, in its semifinal.
CHE breezed to a 5-0 victory, with every match decided in straight sets.
Marlboro’s semifinal was not as matter of fact. The Mustangs won 3-2, with Kendal Ruffner having to win a titanic, marathon at first singles. She and the Hawks’ Lucy Zhang (a semifinalist in the state individual tournament) battled for more than three hours, trading punch-after-punch before Ruffner could put Zhang away, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Ruffner had to survive three match points against her in the second set tie breaker just to force a third set.
“She [Zhang] got to everything,” said Kretzmer. “She was a state semifinalist, she can play.
“Kendal was forcing the issue and controlling the points,” he added. “It came down to could Kendal hit a winner or not. In the first set she had more misses and in the second set, she won the tie breaker down 6-3 with three match points against her.”
It was a triumph of will and desire for Ruffner, who had to dig down deep to pull off the win, which gave Marlboro the decisive point in the match. But the win came at a cost. While she was running all over the court for three hours, CHE’s top player, Emily Herb, was resting. She lost just one game in her semifinal.
Less than an hour after her emotionally and physically draining triumph over Zhang, Ruffner was back on the court facing the well-rested Herb in the state final.
“That [three-hour match] was a killer,” said Kretzmer. “There was no way Kendal could come back. You’re mentally tired as well as physically. Herb had the mindset that she was going to make Kendal run. She forced the issue.
“I couldn’t ask for more from Kendal,” he added. “She did all she could.”
Try as she may, Ruffner didn’t have enough left in the tank and Herb prevailed, 6-3, 6-2.
Ruffner’s older sister Kirstin Ruffner and Stefanie Haar, playing second and third singles, provided Marlboro’s other points in both matches.
Kirstin Ruffner, who is undefeated at second singles the last two falls, beat J.P. Stevens’ (JPS) Luba Smolensky, 6-0- 6-1 and CHE’s Lana Maltz, 6-1, 6-3.
Haar won 6-4, 6-3 over JPS’ Ryan Johnson, before winning her own marathon, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 against CHE’s Joelle Koplin in the state finals.
“I knew going into the match [CHE] it was going to be tough,” said Kretzmer. “It was going to depend on singles.”
Marlboro is the only team to score points off Cherry Hill East this fall, but that was little consolation for a team that wanted to bring a state championship back with them from West Windsor. Kretzmer couldn’t help but think what might have been if Cherry Hill had drawn J.P. Stevens in the semifinals, and Marlboro had gotten Morristown. The semifinal match-ups were not based on seeding, but luck of the draw. In addition, what might have happened if the final was played the following day. A rested Kendal Ruffner may well have been able to beat Herb and swing the match to Marlboro’s favor.
But they are the what ifs. What is certain is that Marlboro had another outstanding season.
Marlboro was bidding for its fourth championship of the season, having already secured the Shore Conference A North Division, Shore Conference Tournament and Central Jersey Group IV trophies.
“I think the girls are happy with our season,” Kretzmer said. “They’re disappointed that we didn’t win states, but it was out of our control.”
With the Ruffner’s moving to Florida next month for family reasons, the season ended the Ruffner era at Marlboro — an era that saw a return of the Mustangs to the state’s elite programs.
“Kirstin comes in and we go from unranked to ranked,” noted Kretzmer. “The next year Kendal comes in and we have a very formidable lineup. They gave us a one-two punch that not many teams can compete with.
“The team was very important to them, as evidenced by their deciding to stay for the year so they could play for the team,” he added. “That says a lot about them. They wanted the team to do well.”
Marlboro won many 3-2 matches this year and often times, it came down to the Ruffners and Haar.
“We played a lot of tough three 3-2 matches this year and we won them all expect for Cherry Hill East,” Kretzmer pointed out. “They rose to every single occasion. I have to be happy with their performances.”