Tennis team is Hawaii-bound

Vine, Hofmann among 4.5 players on trip

By: Mark Rosenthal
   Two Packet-area residents will be among the eight members of the USTA Women’s 4.5 tennis team that will travel to Hawaii for an upcoming national tournament.
   Kimberly Vine of Princeton and Joyce Hoffman of West Windsor earned the right to represent the Middle States section of the USTA by winning District and Sectional tournaments with their team, which practices out of the Pennsbury Racquet Club.
   The group will leave for Hawaii with the other members of their team and coach Brad Werner on Wednesday to compete in the weekend long event. Both women share a love for the game of tennis and have honed their skills for many years to be able to compete on one of the higher levels of amateur tennis that is played in the United States.
   Vine, a mother of two, says she has been playing tennis for over 25 years and has a great passion for the game, which she picked up when she was just 8-years-old. She was talented enough to make the varsity team at Texas A&M for one year before her college career was cut short due to an injury.
   However, after taking several years off from the game to rehabilitate, Vine was able to come back to compete in amateur tournaments throughout the country. In addition to participating in tournaments, Vine also hosts an annual golf and tennis tournament that raises money for the Princeton Medical Center.
   Hoffman, who is the team’s captain, doesn’t hesitate when asked to describe Vine’s game.
   "Powerful," Hoffman said. "She has tremendous power. She also had great mobility and is very versatile in that we can play her at both singles and doubles."
   Hoffman didn’t pick up tennis up until she was 17 years old. However, once she did she proved to be a fast learner. She was able to make the varsity team in college at Adelphi University despite her lack of experience.
   Serving as the team’s captain, it is her responsibility to pick the lineups and decide who is going to play what event. It’s a job she takes seriously, as she spends hours determining the best possible matchups for her team against any given opponent. Those hours she has put in have paid off greatly for the team according to Vine.
   "She is an incredibly smart strategizer," Vine said. "Every lineup that she has made has seemed to work perfectly. She’s also a great rallier and motivator, not to mention one of our strongest players." This will be Hoffman’s second trip to nationals, as she was also on a team that made it in 2001. Vine will be making her national tournament debut. Both know they will have their hands full, but are looking forward to the challenge.
   "This will be a good test for us. I’m a little worried because we’re going into the tournament shorthanded," Vine said of her team, which will be traveling with the minimum amount of players needed, "Some of the women who helped us reach this point are unable to travel with us to Hawaii. That means everyone else is going to have to pick up the slack, but I’m looking forward to that."
   Vine also expressed concern with some advantages the opposition in Hawaii might have.
   "A lot of the teams from down south and out west have the advantage practicing outdoors year round," she said. "We have to do a lot of our practicing indoors and it’s really a different game."
   Hoffman doesn’t see it as a disadvantage however.
   "It doesn’t matter," Hoffman said. "Tennis is tennis. A good player is going to be good if they’re playing indoors or outdoors."
   One edge their team may have over the field is Todd Hewish. No, he is not a member of the team or a coach; he strings the teams’ racquets and customizes them to the players’ liking. This is a job that he had previously performed for tennis great Andre Agassi for many years until his recent retirement.
   "I don’t know if I would call it an advantage," Vine said. "But it definitely can’t hurt. He is wonderful, I like my racquet to be weighted a certain way and he can adjust the grip among other things. He’s the best at what he does and were lucky to have him."
   Despite the fact they will be facing stiff competition and doing it shorthanded, Hoffman likes her team’s chances.
   "I think we’re gonna win it, I really do," Hoffman said. "We will go in as the underdogs, but we were the underdogs in sectionals and that worked out just fine. I don’t think it will be any different at nationals. Whatever happens though, I’m just really happy to be on this team."
   The round robin style tournament will begin with matches on Friday and Saturday, before wrapping up with the championships on Sunday.
   The team also includes a pair of Princeton residents who will not be able to make the trip with the rest of the team. Both Ginny Mason and Gayle Reisman played a role in the team reaching nationals, but won’t be able to make the trip to Hawaii.
   The other players heading to Hawaii with Vine and Hoffman will be Carolyn Werner, Joanne Jeffers, Patti Pizzo, Regan Tuerff, Valerie Kazhdan and Anne Giarratano. Players who were a big reason why the team qualified to go to Hawaii but can’t make the trip due to conflicts are Patty Kinghorn, Collette Gepp, Kelly Chamberlain and Jenna Shedd.