Thursday, October 22, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Pascack Hills' Gabby Drucker playing a shot during the Cowgirls' 5-0 win over Chatham in the Group 2 state semifinals. PH went on to lose to Haddonfield in the state final.

WEST WINDSOR – The last time the Pascack Hills team left the tennis courts at Mercer County Park, the team was feeling emotions ranging from bewilderment to pure frustration after losing last year’s Group 2 state final to Haddonfield by a single point. Putting that loss behind them, the Cowgirls worked hard all year to earn a return trip to the Group 2 state final and another shot at Haddonfield. But this was not the same Haddonfield team from last year. This edition was much deeper, more experienced, and more talented than last year’s Haddonfield team.

Those elements were too much for Pascack Hills to overcome as they lost to Haddonfield, 4-1, in the Group 2 state championship rematch.

“We knew what we were up against today,” said Pascack Hills head coach Eric Ganz. “All of their players can flat out play. I honestly think this team is either going to win the Tournament of Champions or they are going to give someone a very big run. We had our work cut out for us, but we took it as the ultimate challenge.”

Showing the depth of its team this season, Haddonfield had all three of its singles players qualify for the state singles tournament and their first doubles team finished as the runner-up in the state doubles tournament.

Nicole Eisbrouch and Samantha Cheng scored impressive wins at second and third singles, respectively, in Pascack Hills’ 5-0 win over Chatham earlier in the day in the state semifinals, but that momentum did not carry over as Haddonfield dropped just one game at each spot to take a 2-0 lead.

Nicole Eisbrouch playing a shot in the Group 2 state semifinals.

Second doubles team Rebecca Senopoulos and Taylor Noll closed out any hopes of a miraculous Cowgirl comeback. Julie Griggs and Dani Stern battled in the second set, but dropped their last two games and fell by scores of 6-1, 6-3 to lift Haddonfield to its 30th victory of the year without a defeat.

Pascack Hills first singles player Gabby Drucker has improved dramatically since last year and gave one of the state’s top players, Haddonfield’s Taylor Ng, a run for her money. She dropped the first set before storming back with a strong baseline game to take the second. Ng broke Drucker’s serve in the fourth game of the third set and ended the upset bid with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win.

At first doubles, Olivia Cheng and Sarah Spellman of Pascack Hills had not lost a match all year. But they did not get to showcase their talents in the state doubles tournament due to an injury to Spellman. She returned to action yesterday and the pair gave the second-best doubles team in the state everything it could handle. In the most entertaining match of the day, Cheng and Spellman were aggressive and forced the action throughout the match. They forced a deciding set by winning a second-set tiebreak, but eventually lost a heartbreaker 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.

The Cowgirls (24-2) finished off another fantastic year, but the feeling of the Pascack Hills players was more of accomplishment than it was frustration.

“Last year we had a huge chance to take the match, this year we just got beat by a better team,” said Ganz. “I think we are one of the top six or seven teams in the state. Haddonfield is just one of the top two or three teams in the state this year and they were simply a cut above. This was a great year and we left it all on the court, nothing to be ashamed of here by any means. Sometimes you just run into a team that is better than you are.”

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