WW-P South freshman taking something from every match
By: Justin Feil
The West Windsor-Plainsboro High South girls’ tennis team has had a bumpy beginning to its season, and even though it seems odd, Joelle Nitzberg doesn’t necessarily mind a rougher road.
"I’ve had a lot of tough ones, especially my most recent matches have been very tough ones," said Nitzberg, who lost vs. Nottingham on Monday and to Notre Dame on Wednesday. "When I’m in a match, all I can think about is how to get to the next step. But after it’s over, a long tough match helps me so much more than a quick one. In a way, I like that."
It’s a quality that WW-PS coach Kris Javick thinks will help the freshman second singles player become an accomplished player in coming years.
"She’s so willing to learn," said Javick, whose team improved to 3-3 with a 4-1 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday. "She really wants to. After she has a match, she’ll say things that she wants to do for the next match. She’s very coachable, which makes a difference. That helps her game a lot."
Nitzberg will have plenty of tough matches beginning Monday at the Mercer County Tournament. The seeding meeting was Thursday night, after the Packet’s deadline. Nitzberg has seen the jump in the stakes at MCT, just on the boys’ side. That’s because older brother Russell is on the WW-P South boys’ tennis team.
"I went last year to watch my brother," she noted. "I’m excited but at the same time nervous. There are so many opponents I haven’t challenged before. It’s exciting to see more people play and see how that will help me."
Nitzberg’s season began with trial by fire. She had to play first singles when Victoria Vaynberg couldn’t play, and Nitzberg just happened to face and lose to the most talented player that Ewing has had in years. She had to pull out a tiebreaker in the final game of the second set to defeat Princeton’s Frances Wong and won in three sets against Hopewell Valley.
"It’s really intimidating actually to be this little freshman going up against seniors and juniors," Nitzberg said. "At some times, I’m nervous I’m up against all these older seniors and juniors, but sometimes it makes me feel stronger. They get the mindset that they’re supposed to be better, and that gives me the incentive to do better and prove them wrong."
And with every close match she wins, she’s feeling more confident about future matches. Her attitude has already changed in this young season.
"It does make you feel better," she said of winning narrow decisions. "Before I was on the team, if I was down, 0-40, or down a set, I always had the mindset that there’s nothing I can do. The last two or three weeks, I’ve really pulled through. It makes me realize it’s not over until it’s over. There’s a way I can come back."
It’s one of many valuable lessons that Nitzberg is taking to heart. Though she received her first racket as a 3 year old and took her first lesson as a 4 years old, the high school level has been another jump for Nitzberg. She’s still adjusting from her middle school experiences, when she played doubles on a co-ed squad.
"It was a big transition," she noted. "But I like singles a lot better than doubles."
Javick believes that Nitzberg has all the tools to become a dominant Mercer County player. That much stuck out as she watched Nitzberg in preseason tryouts.
"She hits the ball very nicely and has really nice ground strokes and a nice serve," Javick said. "Plus, she plays a point thinking what to do. Sometimes, she over-analyzes the point, but that’s something that will come with experience. The way she hits and the way she thinks told me she was a good player right away."
And still the biggest thing going for Nitzberg, in Javick’s opinion, is her sponge-like approach to the game. She tries to soak up every bit of knowledge that she can. When she attended Russell’s matches, it was half to root him on, half to try to find a way to get herself better. She still seeks his advice as he now tries to attend her home matches.
"He’s been very supportive," Joelle said. "When I first told him what position I was playing, he didn’t believe me. Then he came to one of my matches and saw how badly I wanted it. He tried to give me pointers as much as he could. That helped me. I think he likes to come to try to help me."
And finally, when Nitzberg hits in practice with Vaynberg, she’s trying to pick up something new to give her an advantage against one of the top players in the state. And even when Vaynberg isn’t around, Nitzberg is able to get plenty from practices.
"In practice, we’ll work on serving, then work on volleying one day and we try to pick apart her game," Javick said. "We get her to experience playing all different kinds of points against all different kinds of players."
Nitzberg is certain to see a few more different styles when she takes to the courts Monday at the MCT, and she’s excited about another experience that will help her down the road.
"I’m so nervous because I know it’s such tough competition," she said. "But I love playing. Winning or losing, I feel like I’m learning from whatever I do. I’ll help me for next year. Win or lose, it’s just me doing what I like to do."
Without a newcomer, Nitzberg stands to inherit the No. 1 singles spot from Vaynberg, which will bring it’s own pressure. She’s already feeling the benefits of hitting with the senior.
"In the beginning of the season, it was frustrating, it was so hard," Nitzberg said. "It was so hard to return her ball. I realize now it’s only going to help for the future. I’m more excited to get more balls back. I see how far she’s come and it gives me incentive to get that far and make my game better."
It’s something that should start paying off this season.
"She’s handled the pressure well so far," Javick said. "We talk about what she’s learned from each match and she’s very easy going. She’s very coachable. It’s a lot of pressure, but I think she puts more pressure on herself. I think it’s really good experience, and she’ll already have a year under her belt for next year after this."
She’ll face pressure with the start of MCT on Monday. But that’s all right. It’s just another thing that the rest of the season and next year could make Joelle Nitzberg an intimidating figure in Colonial Valley Conference tennis.