Sunday, October 19, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ramapo's first doubles team of Kerry Irwin (left) and Kelly Mitchell pulled three straight upsets to reach the semifinal round.

WEST WINDSOR – At this time last year, Becton Regional’s Amy Simidian was not even playing tennis. The unfortunate passing of her father a year earlier left her without her best friend and biggest fan. With that, she decided to give up playing and focusing on just being your everyday teenager. But as time went on, she felt the best way to honor her father was to get back to playing tennis, the sport he loved and taught her to love.

Simidian, already a nationally-ranked player on the USTA junior circuit, felt at home playing with her Becton teammates. Although Becton has not achieved the team-wide success this season, Simidian has already made her mark as the best player in the school’s history. With two wins yesterday, she advanced to the NJSIAA state singles final against Stefani Balasa of East Brunswick at Mercer County Park.

“I knew if I could get an early break that I would be in the driver’s seat,” said Simidian of her semifinal match against Parsippany’s Sonja Bohkari. “I just concentrated on the basics of watching the ball and keeping the ball deep. I wanted to get ahead early and stay focused throughout.”

Simidian had her toughest match of the season to date in the quarterfinal round against Angelika Dabu of County Prep (Jersey City). After winning the final four games to take the first set, the diminutive Dabu played big and hung with Simidian shot for shot in the second set. Simidian eventually scored a break a to close out the match and earn a semifinal berth with a hard-fought 6-2, 7-5 win.

Ramapo freshman sensation Amanda Muliawan did not have nearly as hard of a time in advancing into the semifinal round. She blitzed No. 4 seed Dina Shapoval of Watchung Hills 6-1, 6-0. But in the semifinals, Muliawan ran into a player that was even hotter than she was heading into the tournament.

Muliawan hit one tough shot after another from the baseline, but Balasa had an answer each and every time. The most crucial time coming after Balasa had already won the first set and the score tired at 1-1 in the second. After eight deuces, Balasa held off three break points held serve to take a 2-1 lead in the second set. She never looked back in taking the next four games for a 6-1, 6-1 victory and a berth in the state final. It was a bit of retribution for Balasa who lost on the same court in the semifinal round last year.

“I knew I had to come out strong and I’m happy with the way I played,” said Balasa. “The third game of the second set was by far the biggest of the match. If Amanda (Muliawan) got a break there, I could have been in trouble. She is so, so talented and she is just a freshman. Amanda is going to be a player to watch and a threat to win this tournament for the next three years. I’m really happy right now. I can’t believe I’ll be waking (today) knowing that I’ll be playing for the state title.”

Despite the crushing defeat, the first of her varsity career, Muliawan kept the loss and her place in the tournament in full perspective.

“I can’t complain at all with the way I played or how far I got in the tournament,” said Muliawan. “I was seeded (from 5th through 8th) and finished in the top four, so I exceeded expectations. I can’t complain about losing to Stef (Balasa), because she played great. I hit some really big shots and she had an answer for every one. I just ran into a better player today. I’m glad it was Stef, because she’s a really respectable player and she played great.”

Ramapo also had a semifinalist in the state doubles tournament as Kelly Mitchell and Kerry Irwin scored three straight upsets to reach the semis. The last of which came early yesterday morning against fourth-seeded Kathy Tsai and Lisa Yan of Holmdel. They used an early break in the third set to pull away for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory. The duo then won the first two games against top-seeded Emily Mary and Melissa Mann of Millburn, but from there on, it was all Millburn. Bary and Mann won 12 of the final 15 games in the match to end Mitchell and Irwin’s upset-laden run with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat.

“We came out here and gave it our best, they were just really good,” said Irwin. “(Bary and Mann) had a great net game and hit a lot of shots we just weren’t used to seeing.”

“We might see them again on Wednesday (if both teams advance to the Group 3 final), so this can only help us,” said Mitchell. “We’re just excited to get going Wednesday and we hope to represent Ramapo well.”

Simidian’s semifinal match against undefeated Bokhari of Parsippany was supposed to be her biggest test. Instead, it was a message sent that the Penn State-bound senior is still the player to beat in this tournament. She won the first nine games of the match before Bokhari retired due to injury to advance to today’s state final against Balasa. That match will also be played at Mercer County Park in West Windsor with a 10:00 A.M. start time.

“Just to get this far is something I’ll never forget, so everything else is gravy,” said Simidian. “I’m just going to try and do in the final what I did today, that is get a break early and settle in. I thought about just playing in a USTA tourney instead of playing here, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. I want to represent Becton in the best way that I can and I hope I can bring home a championship, moreso for them than for myself.”

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