South Brunswick back at full strength but won’t reach states

By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
   The good news is, Ali Noll is back and playing with the South Brunswick High tennis team.
   The bad news is, she won’t be playing in the state tournament this year, and neither will the rest of the Vikings.
   The massive two week window (said sarcastically) that South Brunswick and the rest of the state had to qualify for the states wasn’t enough for South Brunswick this year, as a loss to Old Bridge last Wednesday eliminated the Vikes from contention.
   South followed with a 5-0 win over Woodbridge Thursday, but that left it 2-4 at Friday’s cutoff, and teams have to be .500 or better in order to qualify.
   ”There’s all those same factors that come up every year,” coach Nancy McDonald said. “Short cutoff dates, Red Division conference matches that are set up two years in advance, so we don’t really get an easy schedule early.
   ”This year, we fell just short and the injury (to Noll) weakened our whole team lineup. We would have beaten Old Bridge with Ali. There was a lot of pressure on the bottom half of the lineup to pull out points.”
   The Vikings were finally back at full strength on Monday, when Noll returned to first singles after winning all her challenge matches. The sophomore won in straight sets over the talented Marisa Jendras.
   ”She’s back and she seems like she’s feeling OK,” McDonald said. “Time will tell, moreso, after this week as to how she feels. She’s got to get some consistency, she hasn’t played any matches except for some challenge matches on Friday and Saturday.”
   Whether Noll wins or loses, her presence helps just from the fact the regular lineup is back in place. Divya Toshniwal and Anusha Koduru have dropped to second and third singles, respectively, which are their natural slots.
   ”Divya has been having to play these phenomenal first singles players day after day,” McDonald said. “She gets a little bit of relief now to play someone of her own ability.”
   That could work for and against Toshniwal in the GMC Tournament, which got underway at Middlesex County College Wednesday. She was seeded sixth because she never got to play second doubles competition until Monday, but after all the difficult matches she played, the senior might surprise some folks in the counties.
   ”She could sneak in on some things this year,” McDonald said. “So could our second doubles team (of Erin Kurkela-Karen Sendner), their only loss was to East Brunswick so they were seeded second. That was a no-brainer.”
   Noll got back just in time to get into the states, but due to just one match, she was unseeded. She did win her first-round match on Wednesday, but nothing else was decided as of press time. Kodura was seeded fifth, while first doubles Irene Donne-Sindhu Shamasunder were seeded sixth.
   LOBS: In the win over Woodbridge, Toshniwal, Koduru and Hayley Berk notched singles wins. Berk got bumped from third singles with Noll’s return, but McDonald hopes to challenge her at doubles or try and fit her in as a reserve singles player.