Tuesday, September 16, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Grace Minassian won in straight sets at first singles to set up Northern Valley/Demarest's 5-0 sweep of Bergen Tech on Monday afternoon.

DEMAREST – Despite being a contender for a Groups 3-4 Bergen County title and a section semifinalist last year that returned six of its seven starters, Northern Valley/Demarest was not considered a frontrunner for either a county or a section title. It just shows that with teams like Ramapo, Ridgewood, Northern Highlands and Tenafly just in Groups 3 and 4, Bergen County tennis is as deep as it has ever been. It also allows a team like Demarest, one that is filled with talent and experience, to fly under the radar and thrive in the underdog role.

The Norsewomen were undefeated heading into Monday's match where they met up with another perennial contender for county and section titles that also happened to be undefeated, a Bergen Tech team looking to make a statement of its own.

Demarest returned all three singles players from last year with first-team All-Bergen selection Grace Minassian leading the way. The experienced trio have been the backbone of the team again this season and proved to be too much for Bergen Tech to handle.

Minassian, Alina Chou, and Sabrina Jacobs dropped just five games combined as Demarest improved to 4-0 on the season with a 5-0 sweep over Bergen Tech at Northern Valley/Demarest High School.

Bergen Tech's Ellen Anshelevich (above) and her partner Nicole Skakun won a set at second doubles.

“That is an excellent team, we just couldn't match them stroke for stroke at our singles spots,” said Bergen Tech head coach John Yselonia. “I figured we had to sweep the doubles and steal one of the singles matches, but they were just better than we were today. They will be a force at the county tournament and I hope we can use this experience and have a good showing there, too.”

Chou is as steady as they come in Bergen County at second singles. She advanced to the third round of the state singles tournament last year, a rarity for a second singles player let alone a freshman. She is even more confident this year and it showed as she dominated both the baseline and the net in a 6-0, 6-1 triumph.

Junior Sabrina Jacobs followed suit at third singles in nearly identical fashion by being aggressive with her forehand and at the net in also dropping just one game. Minassian polished off the victory with her big serve and forehand as weapons from start to finish in a 6-2, 6-1 triumph.

“We are trying to not only win our matches but play better every single match and work to improve every single day,” said Minassian. “We all have both individual and team goals. We know that if we reach our individual goals that we'll reach our team goals. I think as a team we're more confident this year than we were at this time last year.”

Sophomore Alina Chou dropped just a single game at second singles.

The second doubles tandem of Jesse Geller and Michelle Luo came on late in both sets for a 6-3, 7-5 win. Molly Farber and Lauren Kim capped the sweep with a three-set victory at first doubles, 6-4 in the third set.

First doubles duo, Ellen Anshelevich and Nicole Skakun, were the only ones to grab a set in the match for Bergen Tech (2-1), bouncing back from not winning a game in the first set to storm back and take the second set, 6-2.

Demarest is riding high with a 4-0 mark but the schedule gets much tougher from here on out. Tenafly is up next on Thursday and the Bergen County Tournament is less than two weeks away.

“I like where we are and how we're playing, but we will get tested more in the upcoming week,” said Demarest head coach Dave Johnson. “Two years ago, we were ranked number one in the county going into the year and we fell short of our expectations. This year, we have of returning players but we're still flying under the radar which is fine by us. Experience is something that is on our side. I hope we can continue to improve and rely on that experience through both the county and state tournaments. We have a bit of a sour taste from the counties and losing to Montville in the section semis of the state tournament last year, so we're hungry to be better in the counties and go further in the states.”

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