Stevens tennis starts season with a win

BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer

EDISON – The return of senior Luba Smolensky to the No. 1 singles court should make the J.P. Stevens High School girls tennis team a contender for the top spot in the Greater Middlesex Conference once again.

Smolensky led the Hawks to their first victory of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win in her match against North Brunswick. The Hawks won all five matches to post a 5-0 over their county rival.

“Luba has maintained her level and is serving with more consistency this year,” Stevens head coach Ellen Pisano said. “I was pleased with her play in the first match because it was a good test for her.”

While Smolensky spent the majority of her summer on the campus of Harvard University attending economics courses as opposed to the tennis courts, she is still a serious threat to make a run for the GMC and state singles titles.

Due to some swelling, Smolensky was sidelined in the team’s second match of the season, a 3-2 loss to Livingston.

With Smolensky out of the lineup, No. 2 singles player Erin Johnson played at the top spot and fell to 1-1 on the year with a loss.

“I think Erin was a little overwhelmed in the Livingston match,” Pisano said. “She’s one of the hardest workers on the team and she’ll run you all over the court. I think she will surprise a lot of players in the GMC Tournament this year.”

Senior Marissa Monaco won her first match of the year at No. 2 singles and defeated her opponent from Livingston 7-5, 6- 2. Monaco is expected to fill the No. 3 singles slot once the team’s day-to-day lineup is established.

With Monaco at No. 2, freshman Jacklin Wu has made the most of her opportunity to take the court at No. 3 singles and is 2-0. Her 6-4, 6-3 win against Livingston was very impressive.

“While the doubles teams are not set yet, it seems that Jacklin should be in the mix for a position,” Pisano said. “I’m very pleased with her performance so far.”

With the doubles positions yet to be solidified, the opening week brought a musicalchairs game of sorts to the doubles courts.

In the season opener against North Brunswick, seniors Karen Huang and Julie Xie registered the win at No. 1 doubles while teammates Selena Shuail-Sindhu and Daria Wong took the court in the 6-4, 7-5 loss to Livingston.

Elena Miao and Priyanka Deo won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles in the opener, but the doubles team of Xie and Laura Quan lost 6- 2, 6-3 at the Livingston match.

“Right now we have four doubles teams, and they have all beaten each other,” Pisano said. “All are capable, but we’ll solidify the lineup very soon.”

This week’s schedule should allow Stevens to determine its doubles teams, with Thursday’s match against Woodbridge rescheduled for a later date. The team’s lone match comes against Old Bridge.