Thursday, October 9, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Mackenzie Holleran won in straight sets at second singles as part of Northern Highlands' 5-0 sweep of Wayne Hills in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional quarterfinals on Wednesday in Allendale.

ALLENDALE – With a regular season schedule packed with familiar opponents and old rivals, the Northern Highlands tennis teams has pretty much known what to expect from the opposition just about every time it has taken the court this season. However in the Highlanders' most important match of the season to date, they were up against a team that they were unfamiliar with and one with an impressive resume.

Wayne Hills was just coming off the program's 12th straight Passaic County title and looked to make a splash outside county borders. With a section semifinal berth at stake, the Highlanders had no intention of seeing their fantastic season come to an end on their home court regardless of the opponent.

Third-seeded Northern Highlands won all five flights in straight sets to score a 5-0 victory over No. 6 seed Wayne Hills in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional quarterfinals on Wednesday in Allendale.

“We all just wanted to come out and play our game,” said Highlands' Mackenzie Holleran. “We had never played them before and didn't know a whole lot about (Wayne Hills). The first few games you're just trying to feel out your opponent. Once you spot a weakness, you start to attack it more and use that to your advantage.”

Wayne Hills' two-time Passaic County champion Vanessa Herrera played well at first singles.

Holleran and Charlotte Hagan have been solid players all season for Northern Highlands at second and third singles. They set the tone yesterday by each winning their respective matches 6-0, 6-0. The duo of Hannah Doherty and Emily Hite put the win away with a dominant performance at first doubles en route to a 6-0, 6-1 win that clinched the Highlanders' berth in the North 1, Group 3 semifinals.

“Our warmup before the match was really important to get a read on our opponent and it helped us get off to a good start,” said Doherty. “We've had some big wins against some really good teams this season, but once you get to the states, it's game time. If you lose in the states, your season is over. So it makes every match that much more important.”

Chloe Decker and Eleanor Hagan dominated the net and pulled away late in the second set for a 6-0, 6-3 win. The closest match came at first singles between Madison Hite and Vanessa Herrera of Wayne Hills (8-3). Herrera, who won the Passaic County first-singles title the past two years, battled back from a big deficit in the first set to cut it to 5-4 before Hite used her big forehand to hold on for the break to close out the set. The second set was tight throughout before Hite finished it off in identical fashion with a break in the 10th game for the 6-4, 6-4 triumph that closed out the sweep.

Northern Highlands (12-1) moves onto the North 1, Group 3 semifinals against second-seeded Northern Valley/Demarest, a 4-1 winner in section quarterfinals over Northern Valley/Old Tappan. The two teams met 10 days ago with Northern Highlands pulling out a 3-2 victory on its home court. This will be a different atmosphere with the stakes raised and not having the comfort of their home court to play on.

“Our semifinal match will be a really tough one,” said Northern Highlands' head coach Chris Broking. “You practice hard and play hard all year to get to this point. Playing in the Big North Freedom Division really prepares you for the state tournament. When every regular-season match is a tight one, that seasons you and makes you a tougher team mentally. It was fun to play a team that we normally don't get to see. Now we are going to face a team we're very familiar with. We know them very well and they know us very well. We will play hard as we have all year and hopefully the ball bounces our way in the end.”

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