Move to varsity tennis not Iwamoto’s biggest

Freshman helps MHS girls win first

By: Justin Feil
   It’s natural for freshmen to have a difficult time making the jump to varsity tennis, but it’s nothing compared to the leaps that Montgomery High School’s Risa Iwamoto has made.
   Iwamoto was born and lived in Japan until she was 9. She lived in Taiwan then until she was 12, and after a year living near Rochester, N.Y., has been living for one year in Montgomery. The freshman also has found a spot at third singles for the Cougar girls’ team, and it’s not even close which has been the tougher transition.
   "Moving to the U.S.," Iwamoto said, citing, "language and making friends," as most difficult. Even lacrosse, her second sport, might have been more difficult than moving up to varsity tennis.
   Tennis is tennis, no matter where one is, and the move to varsity has come a little easier for Iwamoto than the move to America, though nothing seemingly has come easy to the Cougars. In losing its first five matches, MHS fell twice by 3-2 scores. Winning its first match over Peddie, 4-1, Thursday wasn’t easy either. Four of the five flights played three sets, and the one that didn’t — first doubles — was a 7-5, 7-5 win for Jocelyn Blitz and Emily Eckhardt. Also winning was the second doubles team of Emily Stall and Katherine Stoltenberg and second singles Connie Hsia.
   "We were awfully closely matched," said MHS head coach John Arnold as his team improved to 1-5 going into Monday’s scheduled match with Hunterdon Central. "I was just glad to win three. We’ve had a lot of 2-3 matches. The girls are definitely getting better. We haven’t peaked yet. We still have some time yet.
   "That (win) definitely shows the team effort. Everybody’s point counts. Risa has won two matches in row. Connie won her first. It seems to finally be clicking. They’ve been working hard. It’s finally starting to pay off."
   Added Iwamoto: "I was very happy. I wanted to win."
   She has been playing tennis since she was 4 after starting at the urging of her mother, who used to play. Iwamoto attended the Montgomery Middle School last year, but wasn’t sure how her first attempt at playing varsity tennis would go.
   "I didn’t think I would make varsity because at the camp there were lots of people who were very good," she said. "I thought I might fail the tryout. I was surprised. I’m really happy that I can play singles."
   Iwamoto is hoping the Cougars can continue their strong play as their schedule gets no lighter this week. They’ll play Bridgewater today and are scheduled to play Hun on Thursday.
   "I hope to win all of the matches," Iwamoto said. "We improved a lot."
   Iwamoto is part of the improvement. She is working on developing a more dynamic serve to go with her solid groundstrokes. And like many on the team, Thursday’s win over Peddie adds confidence.
   "She’s learned how to win," Arnold said. "At third singles, she keeps the ball in play. She’s finally developing confidence to go for some more offensive shots."
   Iwamoto gained confidence at the end of the Peddie match. With three of her fellow MHS flights victorious already, she was trying to fight back after losing the second set, 6-2, on the heels of a tight 7-5 win in the first set.
   "Everybody was cheering for me," she said. "I had lots of pressure."
   Iwamoto came through for the Cougars as they nearly completed the clean sweep. Sweeps will be difficult for MHS with plenty of other challenges on the horizon.
   "There used to be lots of other teams in that early schedule," Arnold said. "With the change in the conferences, they don’t want to play us. We’ve got to play the schedule we’ve been given. We had nothing to ease into.
   "We just worry about tennis," he added. "We’re trying to build a program. We’re trying to get better with every match. We know we’re out of the states. The goal is to get better with every match."
   Arnold thinks he has seen that in his players. The singles lineup is growing with each challenging opponent and the doubles have impressed recently.
   "The doubles have really come together," Arnold said. "They’re actually learning how to play doubles. It’s nice to see."
   With intangible improvement, the tangible sign of a win was nice for the Cougars. It gives them something that may have been lacking after five difficult matches to start the year.
   "Confidence," Iwamoto said. "Everybody was really happy and said they’ll win again."
   She, too, is hoping that the wins come more frequently. For her, they may be her last chances at winning on American courts. With her father set to return to Japan after the New Year, Iwamoto’s next adjustment will be acclimating to school in Japan again. She is excited to return, but will miss varsity tennis at MHS.
   "That’s the sad thing," Iwamoto said. "I might visit for vacation."