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Pirates top all at MCT

South tennis back to No. 1

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Before The Hun School girls’ tennis team won seven straight Mercer County Tournament championships, it was the Pirates of West Windsor-Plainsboro South that dominated play with five straight crowns of their own.
   The Pirates returned to the top of the MCT for the first time since 2000 with four flight winners and one third-place finisher to distance themselves from second-place Princeton Day School on Wednesday at Mercer County Park. Hun finished third.
   Said the Pirates’ Annie Scharfstein: “It’s the beginning of our winning streak.”
   Scharfstein can play seer. She is the lone senior in the WW-P South lineup, and two new freshmen have stabilized the Pirates lineup this year and helped make South the best team at the MCT.
   ”I definitely think that’s because of the new blood we got in,” Scharfstein said. “The new freshmen helped bolster our team.”
   Sahana Jayaraman won a three-set match in the second round on her way to becoming the second singles champion while Ammu Mandalap finished third at first singles after falling in the semifinals to eventual champion Samantha Lieb of PDS.
   Lieb, however, was the only PDS player in four head-to-head semifinal matches to beat a WW-P South player. PDS and the Pirates were tied entering the second day of competition but ended up five points apart.
   ”We came into this thinking we could possibly win it,” said PDS head coach Patty Headley, “but West Windsor South was just so clearly superior to everyone. They’re a nice team and they deserve to win. Second to that school is not a bad thing.”
   Joining South’s Jayaraman as gold medalists were third-singles’ Lesley Norris, Scharfstein and partner Larissa Lee Lum at first doubles and the second-doubles combination of Amanda Stanton and Mallory Wang.
   ”It’s a great feeling,” Scharfstein said.
   When the Pirates won head-to-head matches with PDS at third singles and first and second doubles, it left them just a win away from wrapping up the team title. They got four golds with Norris winning her second straight MCT third-singles championship to clinch the team title early in the finals round.
   ”I didn’t know that was the case, which is probably best,” said Norris, a junior. “That makes it cool. I had two tough matches today so I’m happy I got through them.”
   For Scharfstein, who moved from first singles last year to first doubles this season, it was especially satisfying.
   ”It’s great,” she said. “It’s my senior year and it’s one of the things since I’ve been a freshman, I’ve had a dream of winning first place. I’m glad in my last chance I’ve finally been able to get it.”
   Norris won her second straight crown at third singles, the only player along with Lieb to repeat from last year’s MCT.
   ”I was confident in my team,” Norris said. “I was a little nervous because last year I won it and I felt a little more pressure to do well. I felt more pressure, but I thought our team was going to do well.”
   The Pirate freshmen didn’t play like first-timers. Mandalap and Jayaraman helped WW-P South with their talent at the top of the lineup.
   ”I think we knew we could do really well, but we weren’t putting pressure on ourselves to win it,” Jayaraman said. “We just wanted to do the best we could.”
   The team title confirmed what the Pirates’ opening season 4-1 win over Moorestown had shown — that they have one of the strongest teams in the state.
   ”I don’t think the team realized that MCTs were here until last Thursday,” Scharfstein said. “When we found out when they were, you look at your team and you go, this is a pretty nice team. We were hoping for a whole bunch of great things looking into the future.”
   Added Norris: “It’s definitely going to boost our confidence a little bit. We have a new coach this year and we have a lot of new freshmen on the team so we were a little uncertain, but now we know we’re pretty good.”
   The MCT was the Pirates’ first big title of the season. It’s a championship that Scharfstein and the Pirates figure to treasure for years to come.
   ”When people look back on this,” Scharfstein said, “it’ll be the year South dominated and our names are always going to be mentioned as that team. It’s definitely exciting.”