Saturday, October 6, 2012

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Erin Cangiano's win at first singles was one of five points earned by Ramsey in its sweep of Lodi in the first round of the North 1, Group 2 state tournament.

RAMSEY – For twin sisters Erin and Lorin Cangiano, it felt like just yesterday that they stepped into the varsity lineup as freshmen just happy to be playing doubles together. Like it is for most high school athletes, especially those that start as freshmen, it seemed like the sisters would be playing for the Ramsey tennis team forever. But before Friday's state tournament match against Lodi, it dawned on the Congiano sisters that this will likely be the last home state tournament match and a loss would them with a disappointment that they would never get another chance to rectify. Neither Cangiano sister was going to let the other, nor the rest of their teammates down, and they made sure yesterday's match was one to cherish.

As fate would have it, both Erin at first singles and Lorin at second singles won by identical 6-1, 6-0 scores to lead fifth-seeded Ramsey to a 5-0 sweep over No. 12 seed Lodi in a opening round of the North 1, Group 2 state state sectional tournament at Ramsey High School.

“No matter what, we were going to leave it all out on the court,” said Lorin Cangiano. “We didn’t want this to be our last state tournament match ever. It’s so weird how quick four years can go by. When you’re a senior and you’re in the state tournament, you realize that it can be all over just like that. It motivates to play that much harder and go as far as we can.”

Lodi's Juliet Chung put up a good fight at first singles.

After playing second doubles as freshmen and first doubles as sophomores, the Cangianos moved up to singles last year with Lorin at the No. 1 spot and Erin at the No. 2. This year, the sisters flip-flopped spots and it has been beneficial to both.

With the experience of playing against some of the county’s best players last year, Lorin has used that to her advantage against players who do not hit as hard. She took control of her match against Destiny Aliano early on her way to victory.

Erin had a tough time early with Lodi’s Juliet Chung at first singles. The two rallied back and forth during several long games in a first set that was much closer than the score indicated. In the second set, Erin made an adjustment and it paid immediate dividends. She started being more aggressive on her first serve and attacking Chung’s second serve more often. The end result was a straight-sets win that put the finishing touches on the Rams’ victory.

Ramsey (6-2) also got victories at third singles from Rachel Wheaton (6-1, 6-1), first doubles tandem Alli Clark and Nora Mullane (6-2, 6-0), and second doubles duo Shannon McNerney and Natalie Puccia, who rattled off the final nine games of the match to win 6-2, 6-0.

While the loss was one-sided, just getting to this point is something to celebrate for Lodi (4-7). With five starters returning next year, including all three singles slots, head coach Joe D’Alessio feels this could be a useful tool that can help his program secure an elusive state tournament win next year.

Lorin Cangiano won 6-1, 6-0 at second singles for Ramsey, which will face Glen Rock in the sectional quarterfinals.

“Ramsey was a step up in class, but we are using this as a great learning experience,” said D’Alessio. “To get to the next level, you have to play competition like this. One of our goals was to get to the states and we achieved that. I’m proud of our effort, we just ran into a more talented team.”

Ramsey moves onto the North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals next week where it will face fourth-seeded Glen Rock. For the co-captain Cangiano girls it is another chance (and hopefully not their last) to savor being on the court together representing Ramsey. They know their time is coming to a close eventually and they are trying to prolong their senior seasons as long as they can.

“We have had so much fun over our four years that we don’t want it to end,” said Erin, who along with Lorin will likely attend Liberty University in Virginia. “Now we play Glen Rock and get to be the underdogs, which we really like. From playing doubles together with my sister to playing to singles to being co-captains, it’s been great every step of the way. I can’t believe it’s coming to an end, but it happens to everyone. We’re going to focus on enjoying the next few weeks of the season and rest of our senior years together.”

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