Thursday, October 22, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Ramapo's state singles champion Amanda Muliawan picked up a point in the Raiders' 3.5-1.5 loss to Millburn in the Group 3 state semifinals at Mercer County Park.

WEST WINDSOR – Winning a section title and making the Group 3 semifinals was enough for an overachieving Ramapo girls tennis team to consider its season a success. The Green Raiders were hoping to enjoy the ride for as long as they could, but just as it happened in the Group 3 final last year, a talented, deep Millburn squad was waiting to end their state tournament run.

Recently crowned state singles champion Amanda Muliawan was the only Ramapo player to win her match as the Green Raiders’ quest for their first-ever Group 3 state title ended when they fell to Millburn for the second straight year, 3 ½-1 ½, at Mercer County Park.

“We had to play our absolute best to beat Millburn, we just came up short,” said Ramapo head coach Kim Marchese. “I’m proud of the effort and just getting down here is a feat in itself from where we were just two months ago.”

Millburn’s strongest two positions are at second and third singles. Sabrina Fedele and Emily Bary have been lights out all season and they were again on Wednesday. Fedele did not drop a game and Bary dropped just two to move Millburn (24-1) a point away from victory.

Alex Stone closed out last year’s 3-2 win in the state final with a three-set win at third singles. The talented right-hander moved up to first singles this season and ran into the undefeated Muliawan, who struggled through the second set before pulling away for a 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Ramapo's Lauren Harters returning a shot on the backhand.

Ramapo’s Lauren Hartgers and Julie Friedberg kept their team’s hopes alive with two breaks of serve in second set, but they were unable to hang on and eventually fell to Millburn’s Jenna Berkenkamp and Patricia Chau, 6-1, 6-4, for the clinching point.

The Green Raiders earned a half a point when Christina Fusilli and Allison Nolte split the first two sets and were tied at 3 in the third when their match against Millburn’s Lauren Cohen and Sara Fielder was called a draw.

Although a state title is no longer a possibility, Ramapo still has a chance to make school history this weekend. The Green Raiders (17-2) have already won the North 1, Group 3 state section and NBIL Division 1 crowns and have a chance for a Bergen County Groups 3-4 title this Saturday. That would mark the first time in the program’s illustrious history they ever won all three titles in the same season. But for Marchese, who has over 500 career wins, this entire week has been just icing on the cake for a fantastic season.

“To be honest, we have overachieved this season,” added Marchese. “I knew we had the potential to be good, but beating a very good Tenafly team and playing above our head for most of this year has been a delight to see. I was hoping to win our league, the section, or the counties this year. To have the chance to win all three is something special.”

Leonia’s run ends at the hands of Glen Ridge

Sophomore Miya Okado played well at second singles before retiring in the second set.

With six new starters this season, Leonia had no plans of a return trip to Mercer County Park for the Group 1 state semifinals, but the Lions defied all odds by repeating as North 1, Group 1 state sectional champions. However, when the celebration ended and the dust settled, they knew they had to deal with the best Group 1 team in the state, Glen Ridge, on Wednesday in the Group 1 state semifinals.

The Lady Lions battled hard as they have all season, but this time it was not enough. Annie Kennelly and Iwon Sato averted a shutout by splitting sets at second doubles as Leonia’s fell by a score of 4 ½- ½.

Glen Ridge dropped just six games in three matches (first singles, third singles, and first doubles) to clinch the match en route to the Ridgers’ first-ever Group 1 state title.

Leonia’s most competitive matches were at second doubles and at second singles. Sophomore Miya Okado dropped a first-set tiebreaker (7-4) to Glen Ridge’s Casey Olsen before retiring early in the second set.

Their dreams of an upset run through the state tournament ended, but the Lions have two league matches left and plenty to play for. Two wins will give Leonia (19-2) both a share of the BCSL-Olympic title and a school record for wins in a season.

“We needed to steal some points and give Glen Ridge credit, they played great,” said Leonia head coach Tim Cullen. “The clock struck midnight on this Cinderella team and we turned back into pumpkins, but we’re excited about how well we played throughout the state tournament and really all year. Our kids have played beautifully and we gave it our all against a state champion.”

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