Tennis team plays well in 3-2 loss
By: Rudy Brandl
EAST BRUNSWICK The title was there for the taking, but the Hillsborough High girls fell one match short of winning it in last Friday’s Central Jersey Group 4 tennis championship match.
In a rematch of last year’s sectional final between the best teams in Somerset and Middlesex counties, the Raiders lost by the same 3-2 score as last fall. The HHS put quite a scare into the state’s top-ranked team and left East Brunswick Racquet Club feeling like they gave it their best shot.
"We had an opportunity to win today," Hillsborough head coach Larry Johnson said afterward. "Nobody gave up. Everybody came to play and gave an effort. We just lost to a better team. They’re No. 1 for a reason. They’re good and strong at every position."
The Raiders proved they deserved to be in the sectional final despite their No. 6 seed. They steamrolled through Howell, Colts Neck and South Brunswick by 5-0 scores to reach the final. Even East Brunswick dropped a point to Hunterdon Central in the semifinal round.
Friday’s final featured five competitive matches, even at first singles where HHS star Emily Mannix posted a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Stef Balasa to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Mannix dropped the first game of each set but wore down her opponent with consistent ground strokes. Mannix was challenged in a few games but played a beautiful match and won in straight sets.
"It was a rough match, but I knew I could handle it," Mannix said. "I was very confident. I was hitting deep and everything was clean. Everything felt smooth. I was hitting in the middle of the strings."
"She played great," Johnson added. "It built up throughout the match. We realized she was Emily Mannix and played like Emily Mannix."
Hillsborough took a 2-0 lead when the first doubles team of Mae Ling Strang and Caitlyn Katzelnick defeated Luiza Kiyamova and Kristina Moehle by a 6-4, 6-2 margin. Strang and Katzelnick dropped the first game but won the next two before gaining steam throughout the match to win the second set much more quickly.
"We felt a little pressure but we knew we could win," Katzelnick said. "We became more aggressive. We knew we could shut them down."
"We worked the angles and stepped in to cut off their shots," added Strang, who clinched the first set with a smash volley at the net. "When we served at the T, it forced them to hit it back in the middle. It’s harder for them to go down the line."
The 2-0 Hillsborough lead made the Bears very nervous, but Johnson knew there was still much work to be done. The Raiders trailed in the other three matches and needed to produce one three-set comeback victory to win the CJ 4 title.
EB started its comeback with a victory at third singles. Sonia Tsay defeated HHS senior Reciel Arribe by a 6-3, 6-3 count to cut the Raider lead to 2-1.
HHS sophomore Paige Aiello came closest to forcing a third set in her second singles duel with Anna Tarasova, the former No. 1 player for East Brunswick. Aiello and Tarasova were locked in a hard-hitting battle. After a slow start, Aiello gained momentum in the second set much like she did in her county final match vs. Chelsey Kohler of Bernards.
Aiello broke Tarasova to take a 5-4 lead and was serving for the second set. Two Tarasova errors put Aiello two points away from taking the set, but the EB player recovered to win that game and the next two at love to complete a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
"She’s obviously a very good player," Aiello said. "She obviously varies her game with all her shots. I got a little tense with all my shots."
Tarasova also employed a little gamesmanship to disturb Aiello’s rhythm. She took extra time between points and mixed in lobs during long rallies. The strategy worked and may have prevented a heroic rally by Aiello.
"If I got that second set, I definitely would have picked it up more to win the third set," Aiello said. "I tried my best."
"Paige played well and she’s got nothing to be upset about," Johnson added. "She tried to attack and she made a few mistakes."
Aiello’s loss knotted the team score at 2-2 but the Bears clinched it a minute later with a victory at second doubles. Hilary Rosen and Mallory Highstein prevailed in a tough 6-4, 6-3 battle against Hillsborough’s Justine Turnbull and Alary Price. Although the EB duo won 12 of 19 games, almost every one was up for grabs.
"It was back-and-forth, very close," Johnson said. "Every game down there went to deuce. That could have gone either way. They just made a couple of mistakes at key times."
Only a few crucial points separated these two fine teams, who staged a very entertaining battle for the title. The Bears proved to be the better team, but the Raiders weren’t far behind.
"It’s really exciting knowing we’re the best team in our county and we were so close to beating the No. 1 team in the state," Aiello said.
NOTES The Raiders are still in the hunt for the Skyland Conference title, especially after Monday’s 4-1 victory over North Hunterdon. The HHS singles players swept their matches and the first doubles team prevailed. Hillsborough must still face Ridge (Oct. 18) and Bernards (TBA) in matches that will determine the conference champion.
Mannix and the Katzelnick-Strang team lost their NJSIAA quarterfinal matches last Saturday. The fourth-ranked Mannix dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision to Caryssa Peretz of Cherry Hill East, while Paige Frost and Elena Cassara of Holy Spirit eliminated the second-seeded HHS doubles team by a 6-2, 6-1 score.

