Monday, September 22, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ramapo freshman Amanda Muliawan won the Group 3-4 first singles title at the Bergen County Girls Tennis Tournament.

OLD TAPPAN – Right from the first day of practice, the Ramapo girls tennis team wanted to stake its claim as Bergen County’s top team. They would have to wait for over a month for the chance to face that challenge of top teams like Tenafly, IHA, and Northern Highlands. This year though, the Green Raiders got an added boost when freshman Amanda Muliawan entered the lineup as their No. 1 singles player. Now both Ramapo and Muliawan can both count themselves as Bergen County champions.

Muliawan won the first singles title in straight sets over Tenafly’s Akiko Okuda to lead Ramapo to its second Bergen County Groups 3-4 title in three years. A pair of players from Pascack Hills known for their exploits in other sports, Michelle Feldman and Brittany Palish, won county titles to lead Pascack Hills to its third straight Bergen County Groups 1-2 championship.

In the first singles title match, Muliawan used powerful ground strokes to score an early break against Okuda and take the first set on her way to a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Ramapo also got a title at first doubles with seniors Kelly Mitchell and Kerry Irwin stepping up their play at the net over the weekend. They avenged a loss to Northern Highlands in the semifinals, and breezed to a surprisingly easy 6-2, 6-2 win over Kathleen Lieblich and Brianne Donohue of Holy Angels.

“Our first doubles team really stepped up and beat three very good teams to get here,” said Ramapo head coach Kim Marchese. “This is probably the one county tournament where we needed our whole team to step up and everyone rose to the occasion.”

IHA won a pair of individual flights, including a huge upset at second singles. Kaitlin Pfisterer rallied from a set down to hand Tenafly all-stater Courtney Lee her first loss in her high school career with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 triumph. Dana Ferrari bested Erin Nerlino of Ramapo, 6-2, 6-1, in the third singles final.

Northern Highlands’ duo of Jessica Norworth and Allison Feldsott used two early third-set breaks of serve to score the second doubles title with a 6-3. 4-6, 6-1 win over Katie Nerlino and Sarah Conforti of Ramapo. However, if it wasn’t for a three-set quarterfinal victory by Nerlino and Conforti over IHA’s second doubles tandem that took two days to complete, it very well could have been the Blue Eagles celebrating a county title.

“We had so many big wins, but that quarterfinal win at second doubles proved to be the biggest one we had the entire weekend,” added Marchese. “If we don’t win that match, we don’t win the tournament. We played our hearts out and we lucked out to get past so many tough teams to get to the finals in both doubles flights.”

In Groups 1-2, Pascack Hills had to hold off its usual nemesis, Dwight-Englewood, for its third straight title. The Cowgirls and Lady Bulldogs went head-to-head in the finals of three flights with Pascack Hills winning both the third singles and first doubles matches in straight sets.

Feldman used her quickness and athleticism to score a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dwight-Englewood’s Gabrielle Fromer at third singles. Palish and Spellman used a late break to close out the first set, en route to a 7-5, 6-2 win over D-E’s Jennifer Stone and Neesha Khanna.

“The strength of our team is at third singles and first doubles and it showed when it counted,” said Pascack Hills head coach Eric Ganz. “Our experience and our athleticism at those spots give us an advantage in big matches. We don’t have a powerhouse player on our team, but we have a balanced lineup that doesn’t have a weak spot and knows how to win.”

After losing in the first singles final in each of the past two years, Waldwick junior Cayce Bradley finally broke through and won the school’s first-ever first singles crown with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Nicole Eisbrouch of Pascack Hills.

At second singles, Leonia’s Christina Puleo won a marathon first-set tiebreak on her way to a county title with a 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 victory over Daniella Hunter of D-E.

Dwight-Englewood did win a title at second doubles, as Jenna Byron and Alana Davis scored an impressive 6-1, 6-2 win over Pascack Hills’ Julie Griggs and Harli Thau.

For both Ramapo and Pascack Hills, it is a large building block for two teams that are thinking of playing deep into October and refocusing on winning section titles.

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