By Sean Richards, Sports Writer
When Eric Clapton sang “I Don’t Want to Fade Away” in Bell Bottom Blues, he must have been envisioning the 2007 Monroe Township High School girls tennis team.
Unfortunately, that’s what it has pretty much come down to as a once-promising season is headed for a seemingly so-so finish due to injuries, bad luck and a tough schedule.
In some of its most recent action, Monroe went 1-2, beating South Plainfield, 4-1, but falling to Woodbridge, 3-2, and JFK of Iselin, 4-1. This left the Falcons at 7-7 with the season due to wrap up the middle of next week.
”We’re trying to stay positive, but right now our lineup is all screwed up,” said Monroe coach Trudy Marmorek. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. Hopefully, we can at least finish over .500.”
This won’t be easy because Monroe has lost No. 1 doubles player Jackie Jesus to a shoulder injury and No. 2 doubles player Theresa Lin has only played once over the last two weeks because of a foot injury. This has forced Marmorek to make all kinds of changes to her lineup and call up players from the JV.
Furthermore, Monroe is scheduled to end its season on Wednesday against Mother Seton with the completion of a match that was halted earlier in the year by darkness as well as the regularly scheduled match. Since Jesus apparently won’t be available to complete her doubles match, this means Monroe will have to forfeit the suspended match against a Mother Seton team that is favored anyway.
The match against South Plainfield last week did go well with Monroe’s three singles players, No. 1 Marissa Jendras, No. 2 Jacqueline Niu and No. 3 Ashley Palach, all posting victories. Also prevailing was the No. 1 doubles team of Jesus and Alyssa Cosentino.
With the injuries piling up, Monroe fell to Woodbridge, although Jendras and Niu were able to win at singles It might have been a different outcome if not for the fact Palach wasn’t available that afternoon. On Monday against JFK, Monroe’s rotten luck continued as Jendras was forced to withdraw because of an illness. The good news was Niu avenged one of her two losses on the year with a solid victory at No. 2 singles.
”It was a good win for Jacqui; she’s done a very good job,” said Marmorek. “She’s really had a very strong season.”
Weather permitting, the last stretch of the season will be busy. Earlier this week, Monroe was scheduled to have played Spotswood, Tuesday, Perth Amboy Wednesday and South Plainfield yesterday. Bishop Ahr is on the schedule today, followed by Sayreville Monday and Mother Seton Wednesday.
”Our schedule is so compressed we can’t get in any practice time,” said Marmorek. “When you throw in the injuries it makes it even more difficult. Our team has run out of steam.”
