Marlboro bounces back to win A North tennis

BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer

After chasing Colts Neck all season, the Marlboro girls tennis team finally caught the Cougars, and then passed them.

In the final week of the regular season, Dave Kretzmer’s Marlboro Mustangs captured the Shore Conference A North Division championship.

“It’s a nice way to end the season,” said Kretzmer. “Winning A North was one of our goals.”

On Oct. 12, Marlboro moved into the lead for the first time all year, beating Colts Neck, 4-1, and is now one win a way from winning the title outright (Friday’s match with Howell was rained out).

The season had begun with a 3-2 loss to Colts Neck that immediately put the Mustangs in catch-up mode. As the division played out, it became apparent that the best hope for Marlboro was a win in the rematch that would give Marlboro a share of the championship.

But Colts Neck stumbled, falling to a good Freehold Township team 3 1/2-1 ½.

Now Marlboro, which had not lost in A North since falling to Colts Neck, had caught the Cougars. That set the stage for the Oct. 12 showdown that would determine the division champion.

Marlboro, which had won at first singles with freshman star Michelle Dassa and second doubles in the first match, reversed its losses at second and third singles to produce the 4-1 triumph.

Dassa provided the Marlboro lineup with a needed ace at first singles this fall. She has been the best player in the Freehold District and one of the Shore’s finest. She dropped only two matches during the regular season and reached the round of 32 at the NJSIAA championships. She mixes deep ground strokes with a net game to control points.

Dassa stepping up at first singles made Marlboro better at second and third singles, where Danielle Dellaccio and Lauren Nguyen improved as the season progressed. They were each 12-4.

Marlboro could count on its doubles teams as well. Without them, the Mustangs wouldn’t be 15-3 overall and the A North champions

Rachel Ger and Marissa Cohen were steady winners at second doubles. In the rematch with Colts Neck, they moved up to first doubles because an injury broke up the team’s first doubles combo of Gayle Rotmil and Renata Aleknovich.

Against Colts Neck, Paula Schulman teamed with Aleknovich at second doubles and they won in straight sets.

Marlboro was 15-3 for the season and 11-1 in A North.

With Dassa and Nyguen just freshmen and Dellaccio (junior), Ger (sophomore) and Cohen (junior) also back, the Mustangs are in good position to remain the team to beat in the division.

For Colts Neck, it was a tough ending for what had been a fine season. After beating Colts Neck the first time around and beating Freehold Township 3½-1½, the Cougars were in the driver’s seat.

The Cougars were looking to establish themselves as the division’s new powerhouse by winning a second straight division championship. They were in the driver’s seat after beating Marlboro and Freehold Township in early September.

They finished the season with a 14-4-1 overall record.

Freehold Borough, the SCT semifinalist, was the area’s best team, (16-4) followed by Marlboro, Colts Neck and Freehold Township.