Freshmen Valicia Browne of Jackson Liberty High School at first singles and Sabrina Chandler of Jackson Memorial High School at third singles had thirdplace finishes in the Ocean County Tennis Tournament at Bey Lea Park in Toms River over the weekend.
Browne is unbeaten in her position for the Liberty Lions, who are 3-7.
“She’s good all-around, but it’s her location. She hits it with pace and to location,” Jackson Liberty coach Erik Brodowski said.
Browne won three out of four matches in the county tournament, including a sweep of Jackson Memorial senior Monica Chang, 7-6 (3), 6-0. Chang split her four matches in the tournament to finish in fourth place.
Browne and Chang will compete in the NJSIAA singles tournament on Oct. 5 at Mercer County Park.
Chang won the second singles flight two years ago as a sophomore and also played in that position last fall. She is 4-3 in matches for Jackson Memorial, which is also 4-3 and was swept by No. 1-seed Holmdel High School on Sept. 25 in the opening round of the Shore Conference Tournament. “She has good groundstrokes, and she’s consistent,” Jackson Memorial coach Chris Opdyke said of Chang. Chandler, who trains at the Atlantic Club, won all four of her matches and helped the Jaguars finish in fifth place in the team standings. Her older sister, Kayanna, played first singles before graduating two years ago and is playing at Georgian Court University. Sabrina Chandler is 4-3 on the season for Jackson Memorial.
“She has a nice serve and likes to go to the net. She mixes it up,” Opdyke said. “She’s not afraid to hit it hard and hits the ball with pace. I expected her to still be around late in the tournament.”
Opdyke said the fifth-place finish in the team standings was what he expected.
“I think we stacked up where I thought we’d be,” Opdyke said. “It’s hard to figure it all because no one had played a lot of matches yet.”
Jackson Memorial has had a tough go against the Toms River teams in the Shore Conference A South Division, but it has battled hard with a veteran lineup that graduated two players from last season. Junior Katie Fulton, who won two matches in the county tournament at second singles, played third singles last year.
Jackson Memorial’s first doubles team also won two out of three matches in the county tournament, with freshman Brianna Rado and junior Julia Heath, who played second doubles last year. Juniors Samantha Trent and Jaclyn Sosa moved up from junior varsity last season to second doubles. Senior Lindsey Jennings is a leading alternate.
This week, Jackson Memorial was scheduled to play at Brick Township High School on Sept. 30 and at home against Toms River High School East on Oct. 1 and Brick Memorial High School on Oct. 3.
As for Jackson Liberty, Brodowski commended the play of junior Gianna Tannabo in third singles, where she has split her matches.
The rest of the lineup is seniors Athina Cordero in second singles and Emily Grau and Hloly Katko in first doubles. Juniors Taylor Hughes and Liz Frisenda are in second doubles. Senior Jackie Rivera is the leading alternate.
Jackson Liberty was scheduled to play Pinelands Regional High School on Sept. 29 and at Manchester Township High School on Oct. 1. Those teams beat the Liberty Lions by 3-2 scores earlier in the season in B South Division play. Jackson Liberty was also scheduled for a match against Donovan Catholic High School on Sept. 30.