By: centraljersey.com
Brittany Foxx and Julia Goldman earned some revenge and a banner in the process.
The Montgomery High School seniors teamed up to capture the state doubles tournament with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Haddonfield’s Meghan Burns and Catherine Senopoulos on Sunday.
"It’s amazing," said Goldman, who lost in the state semifinals last year with Rachel Casey. "I remember last year, I said, ‘Next year I want to win the state.’ Then we actually won it this year. I don’t even know what I was thinking at the time. I’m so happy my senior year to win it and end it on that note."
It was Foxx’s first year at doubles after three years in the singles lineup for the Cougars. She battled back from a back injury that forced her to miss the end of last season to help secure the first doubles crown in MHS history.
"It feels amazing," Foxx said. "It’s the most exciting moment of my life.
"Our coach told us today we get a banner put in the gym," she added. "It says state champs and has our names. I’m always going to be on a flag in the gym. That’s awesome."
Agreed Goldman: "That’s the most amazing thing. It’s incredible."
Foxx and Goldman had lost to Haddonfield in straight sets on Sept. 19 at the Moorestown Classic. That left them 5-1, and is still their only loss of the season.
"I think it was good that they faced them earlier," said MHS head coach John Arnold. "It gave them a chance to know how they played, and what they had and how to deal with it. The biggest difference was the mental part of the game.
"I wasn’t there, but my assistant was. They kind of stayed calm throughout. They didn’t overreact. They kept their heads."
The resulting win put them in select company. Foxx and Goldman join a small group of Montgomery athletes who have won individual state crowns.
"It’s pretty amazing," Goldman said. "Not many people are able to do that. That made me appreciate it that much more."
The two long-time friends could enjoy the first MHS doubles crown in school history together. Both have been on the Cougars varsity for four seasons. It’s their first time playing together.
Goldman could appreciate the title for how close she had come before. Last year’s semifinals appearance was the previous farthest that a Cougar girls doubles team had made it. When both MHS and Haddonfield won their semifinal matches Saturday – with the Cougars unseating top-seeded Millburn, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 – it set up a chance for Montgomery to avenge their one loss this year. They trailed in the final set, 5-2, before rallying to set up a rematch with Haddonfield.
"I wanted it," said Goldman, who lost in three sets last year. "That sort of made me fight for it a little more. I lost to them last year. I wasn’t too happy about that. And then having them be our only loss this year, I didn’t want to lose to them again. I wanted to show we could win the state."
Added Foxx: "Last time, we hit to the net player and they were both good at the net. We knew we had to keep it away from them."
The Cougars were tested when Haddonfield rallied in the second set. Senopoulos, who had been on the state runner-up team last year, and Burns started to click.
"We knew coming into today, we couldn’t fall into their game," Goldman said. "We had to play our game. We came out being aggressive. We went for our shots. That helped us – playing our game and going for shots.
"The third set, we kept telling each other, we can either lose being aggressive or lose pushing. That helped us really be aggressive. The second set, we fell into their game. We weren’t aggressive. The third set, we realized we had to go for things."
The Cougars were able to control the third set to earn their biggest win of the season while avenging their lone loss.
"It would have been nice to get it in two," Goldman said, "but just knowing we were able to come back and able to play our game, it was nice to know we weren’t going to give up and we were going to keep fighting for it."

