HHS girls produced another tennis banner

Mannix led team to 17-1 season

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   The Hillsborough High girls’ tennis team made a pledge after suffering a tough 3-2 loss to East Brunswick in the Central Jersey Group 4 championship match. The Raiders upheld that promise and won the rest of their matches to repeat as Delaware Division champs.
   Hillsborough (17-1) won its final seven matches, including four by shutout, to capture its second straight division title. While they’re extremely proud of winning another Delaware banner, the HHS girls would have loved to take the sectional crown. That turned out to be their only loss the entire season.
   "Without a doubt, it was a great year," HHS head coach Larry Johnson said. "I do believe we outperformed my expectations and their expectations. Winning Central Jersey Group 4 definitely would have been nice and that loss with stick with me for a while. I hope it does with the girls, too, because they can get back there."
   The Raiders will have their entire singles lineup back for next season, which makes them an early favorite to accomplish great things in 2006. The HHS girls won 17 of 18 matches with two new singles players this year.
   Junior Emily Mannix enjoyed a huge season in her third year at first singles. Mannix posted a 23-2 record, losing only to Bernards star Lindsay Clark in the Somerset County finals and Mendham’s Sarah Summerfield in the NJSIAA quarterfinals. Mannix was undefeated in 18 regular season matches, never losing a set and rarely being challenged.
   Mannix enjoyed a thrilling run and lived up to her No. 6 seed in the state singles tournament. She took the first set from Summerfield before losing the next two. Mannix rolled to a 6-1 win in the first set but Summerfield grabbed the momentum in the second and took the final two sets 6-2, 6-2.
   "I went in with no pressure and I was playing really loose and confident in the first set," Mannix said. "In the second set, my standards rose and I started to put pressure on myself. I got tight and you can’t play tight. I was making more errors and giving her more opportunities."
   "(Summerfield) is a very good player and she stepped up her game," Johnson added. "Emily didn’t keep her ground strokes as deep as she did in the first set. The other girl took advantage of the short ground strokes."
   Mannix is proud of what she accomplished this season but still wants to achieve more. She’s certain to face Clark again next year when both standouts will be dominant seniors in Somerset County. Mannix would like to be more competitive against the state’s top players. The key, she believes, is mental toughness.
   "I have to be stronger mentally," Mannix said. "That just takes playing more competitive matches. If I could play Lindsay every week, I’d be such a great player. I’m going to try to enter some national tournaments. I want to be put in those situations multiple times throughout the year. That way, I can handle them better."
   Johnson has enjoyed watching Mannix’s growth as a player and appreciates everything she has done for HHS tennis.
   "She’s like our (Michael) Jordan, we expect her to win all the matches she plays," Johnson said. "She played much better against the top players this year and I’m already looking forward to next year with Emily. She’s definitely more confident but that’s one place she still has to improve. I’d like her to go out there with the confidence I have in her."
   Two newcomers flourished in their first year of varsity singles play for the Raiders. Freshman Paige Aiello stepped in for her sister, Erin, at second singles and posted an impressive 17-4 record. Junior Reciel Arribe, who had performed well as a doubles player the previous season, made a smooth transition to singles and went 13-3-1 in the third position.
   Aiello, who has the talent to be No. 1 on many teams, used punishing ground strokes and court savvy to roll over most opponents. She gained some valuable experience under pressure as well. Aiello was put on the spot in the CJ 4 final at East Brunswick when the team’s fate was hanging on her match, which went to three sets after the Raiders and Bears had split the first four matches. Aiello wound up losing that decisive set – that’s how close the Raiders came to winning a sectional title – but Johnson still was proud of his freshman second singles player.
   "Paige is a very talented player and she gained a lot of confidence this year," he said. "She learned a lot and she works really hard. She stayed in points and was patient. She played smart tennis. That will help her out in the future."
   Johnson preached consistency with his singles players and they took it to heart. Aiello and Arribe were question marks entering the season and their fine performance really propelled this team.
   Continuing rallies was an especially difficult task for Arribe, who forced herself to be more patient instead of smashing the ball and making errors. Arribe learned how to wait for her opportunities and took advantage at the right time, which often resulted in her opponent making a mistake.
   "Reciel learned a lot along the way," Johnson said. "I hope because of her success that she gets out there and plays more. She has to get on the court more."
   The HHS doubles teams were made up of all seniors. Kelly Wagner and Katie Kaulius won 12 of 19 matches as the first tandem, while Rachel Tom (13-6-1) and Christel Arribe (11-5-1) saw most of the action in the second position. While all the upperclassmen played well, it won’t be hard for Johnson to replace them since the entire jayvee team is made up of doubles players eager to crack the varsity lineup.
   "The kids on jayvee are a hard-working group," Johnson said. "They play a lot of tennis. It’s going to be a battle for those positions. These kids play all year."
   The Raiders swept Montgomery, Ridge, Hunterdon Central, Watchung Hills and Bridgewater-Raritan to go 10-0 in the division. After edging Montgomery, Ridge and B-R by 3-2 scores in September, the HHS girls blanked Montgomery and Ridge and knocked off B-R in a 4-1 match in the second meetings.
   "Mr. Johnson told us we could have won all those matches 5-0 and we knew it was true," Mannix said. "We had the potential and we wanted to make a statement the next time we played them. We improved on keeping our focus throughout the whole match."
   The Raiders defeated all those teams for the second time after the emotional loss to East Brunswick. It showed the true character and talent of this championship team.
   "I’m really proud of what they accomplished," Johnson said. "It’s a great group of young people. It was a pretty fantastic season."