By: Rich Fisher
So far, the post-season (i.e., in-season) tournaments have gone about as expected for South Brunswick High’s tennis team.
Now, the Vikings want to try and break out of the routine.
SBHS finished third in the Greater Middlesex Conference tournament, getting three third-place finishers and a fourth-place finish. In the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV tournament, 10th-seeded South Brunswick topped 7th-seeded Freehold Township, 4-1.
Despite the fact Freehold was the higher seed, it was not really an upset since the Vikes play a tougher schedule.
"They don’t have the EB’s (East Brunswick) and the JP’s (Stevens) like we have in our division," coach Nancy McDonald said. "But they went in with like, a 7-1 record so they had a higher seed."
If the Vikes can win today (Thursday), however, it would be an upset. South Brunswick takes on second-seeded West Windsor-Plainsboro South, which is consistently one of the top programs in Central Jersey.
"This will be a very tough match for us," McDonald said. "We anticipate a very challenging match. Their number one (senior Joelle Nitzberg) is seeded in the state singles tournament, so Ali (Noll) has a tough match. And I’m assuming they’re strong all the way down the lineup."
West Windsor finished second to Hun in the Mercer County Tournament, and has a record of 8-1. The Vikings are 6-2, and have hardly gotten their feet wet where the season is concerned.
"That’s why it’s frustrating that the states are so early," McDonald said. "You don’t even get into your season. We’ve played eight of 19 matches and now we’re playing a top team in the state. It’s not a true indication. Some results are not going to be based on the true strength of a team.
"If you have the depth it helps. If you haven’t had opportunity to develop that depth it’s a problem, and we haven’t had that opportunity yet."
But they did have the opportunity to get a tournament under their belts, and finished exactly where McDonald thought they would, behind East Brunswick and J.P. Stevens.
Ambica Buddhavayapu took third at third singles by winning her consolation round, while the first doubles team of Meredith Ragany-Meena Ramachandra and the second doubles team of Erika Brokaw-Annie Zhang both took third. Divya Toshniwal was fourth at second singles, losing in three sets in the consolation finals.
It was an especially good showing for Brokaw-Zhang, since they had only played one match this year and were filling in for the regular second doubles team.
"Probably the biggest surprise was the second doubles team," McDonald said. "They walked away with a medal out of a tournament that didn’t want to seed them. They were the fourth seed, lost in the semis to EB, and there was nothing expected of them. But they gained some points for the team and came out of it winning a medal by beating Old Bridge in the consolations."
Buddhavayapu also did a nice job in an unfamiliar spot.
"Ambica is new to singles," McDonald said. "I didn’t know how she was going to fare throughout a tournament type basis. She played real well, ended up third. She beat a girl from Highland Park in the consolation finals who was a decent player.
"To come through after four days of a lot of tennis, especially a singles player, it was a good showing for her. She went from JV last year to a place-winner at third singles this year."
The Vikings most exciting match of the tournament belonged to Noll, who won her first quarterfinal set against Edison’s Erika Goldsmith and led 5-2 in the second but could not get that last game. Goldsmith won in three sets.
"Ali played a great first set, and in the second set she was ahead as well," McDonald said. "Then all of a sudden, the bottom fell out. Their girl started to play better. I don’t think Ali played terrible. Their girl just got a little confidence back.
"When she got to within 5-4, then she just was in another gear. She tied it up and Ali couldn’t put away that one more game. It was a good match. If you were watching that match, you would have thought it was a semi or a final instead of a quarterfinal."
McDonald figured it was a learning process for her freshman.
"It was great tennis from beginning to end," she said. "But Ali’s got next year, she’s gaining more experience and she’s getting more and more confident."
LOBS: Noll, Buddhavayapu, Ragany-Ramachandra and Zhang-Brokaw all won against Freehold.

