Pascack Hills' (l. to r.) Jordan Lewis, Alexa Ornstein, Carly Solomon and Sam Minnetian were honored on Senior Day in Montvale on Friday.

MONTVALE – It was a fitting way to finish another successful season for one of North Jersey’s most consistent tennis programs. Last Friday was Senior Day at Pascack Hills complete with a catering table, decorated rackets and pictures with family before the match and then a 4-1 win over River Dell, which put the finishing touches on an undefeated league season and championship.

The senior class of four – Jordan Lewis, Cayla Solomon, Alexa Ornstein and Sam Minnetian – went out on a high note a couple of days after the Broncos’ state tournament run ended when they came up short after pushing Glen Rock for a while in the North 1, Group 1 state sectional final. It took two third set tiebreakers in both doubles flights for Glen Rock, the top seed, to hold on for a 4-1 victory in the championship match.

“It was a great season. We made it the farthest that this [senior] group has ever gone and we came close against Glen Rock. Carla Monaco and I have been doubles partners for three years, we gotten to know each other really well and it was awesome to get to play with my best friend,” said Lewis, who has split allegiances during the fall season as she is also a member of the marching band. “A lot of people don’t know that I am in the band. I don’t even think [head coach Eric] Ganz or [assistant coach Jordan] Saxon even knew until like halfway through the season, but I would go right from tennis to marching band and it added to the experience.”

Four years flies by.

“I am a little sad that it is all over, but it was a really fun season. Our team played really well and we all got super close,” said Minnetian, who played first doubles alongside Rachel Yeung. “I am playing with Jordan [Lewis] today because it is Senior Day and it’s a good way for both of us to go out in our last match. We’ll miss this.”

Brook Dreyerman (left) will long be remembered for her kindness and caring.

It’s the missing part that the Pascack Hills community in general and the tennis program in particular got a heavy dose of. The tragic passing of Brooke Dryerman and her parents on September 17 hit hard. Dryerman was not on the tennis team this season, she had moved on to other pursuits, but she was still a part of the family, a best friend and, by all accounts, a beautiful sole.

She and her parents were lost to a car accident on the Garden State Parkway on the way home from a music festival in Asbury Park.

“It still doesn’t feel real and it is still hard to put it into words. I wish it never happened and I wish there was some way to change it,” said Solomon, who has so many shared memories with Dryerman. “We did the youth group through our temple and we were like teacher’s aides for the little kids. We always looked forward to it and it is heartbreaking that I can’t do it anymore with her. I am still doing it, but now it is in her memory and that is a way to carry her with me.”

Ornstein also collaborated with Dryerman off the court, friends from when they were little in Woodcliff Lake.

“We grew up together. Brooke was one of my closest friends and she had so much compassion and kindness for others,” said Ornstein. “She was co-president of Camp Raspberry with me, which is a club that creates a really welcoming environment for special needs children. We had a bunch of different events throughout the year and we had been doing that together from freshman year. She made just such a big impact on the Pascack Hills community and she will be missed a lot.”

There are so many Senior Days/Nights in so many sports at so many schools across North Jersey, New Jersey and the country. Most quietly mark an accomplishment by a small group of athletes that put in the work to make through four years of high school sports, a worthy endeavor.

For Pascack Hills tennis is was that, plus one last chance as a group to remember a fallen teammate. Brooke Dryerman was only 17 years old.

“Any time there is any kind of loss like that in the community it is terrible, but this one really hit home. It just shows how precious life is. It was her senior year, she was looking forward to everything that her life was going to bring,” said Eric Ganz, Pascack Hills’ longtime head coach of both the girls and boys tennis programs. “Especially for the seniors who knew her so well, it was and is absolutely devastating. We had matches that week; we had a big one against Mahwah that usually decides our league championship [that was postponed]. All of the girls then rallied around and we stepped up to get the job done in honor of Brooke. The pregame talk was just about appreciating every moment you have and the seniors really turned it on an led us to an undefeated league championship. It was one way we could really honor Brooke’s memory.”

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