Wednesday, October 14, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Lauren Laino moved up to second singles and got Ramapo a point in its 4-1 win over Tenafly in the North 1, Group 2 state section final on Tuesday in Paramus.

PARAMUS – Ramapo's Ella Sinoway and Jolie Strauss have known each other for as long as either of them can remember. From the time they were two years old, both of them along with their families have been close. So when they got to play second doubles together for their sophomore years, it was almost like a dream come true. They knew that regardless of the outcome of their season, it would be a fun one largely because they would be together on the same court. Little did they know that their camaraderie would help lead their team to their ultimate goal: A state section championship.

After letting a 5-1 lead slip away in the second set, Sinoway and Struass both stayed loose amid the pressure of facing a possible third set. They both hit big volleys at the net to close out the match as second-seeded Ramapo won the North 1, Group 2 section title with a 4-1 triumph over top-seeded Tenafly on Tuesday at Paramus High School.

“This is my first year on varsity, so winning a section title and going down to Mercer [County Park] is so cool,” said Strauss. “We have nothing to lose. We're just going to have and try our best to keep going.”

Ramapo was in an interesting spot going into the section final. The Green Raiders were rolling along through the state tournament, but had quite a hiccup along the way. With a gap between the section semifinals and the final, they scheduled a match designed mostly to keep them sharp. However with a retooled lineup missing its second singles player, the Green Raiders lost to Northern Valley/Old Tappan, 3-2. Still without their second singles player against Tenafly, sophomore Lauren Laino moved up to the No. 2 spot in the biggest match if her young career.

Nikki Gerber earned Tenafly its point with her win at third singles.

Laino came up big by taking control early on her way to grabbing a one-set lead. But a scoring snafu and the big forehand of Tenafly's Elizabeth Kiselev left her in a 3-2 hole in the second set. After breaking to get back on serve and then holding serve to grab the lead, Laino won the point of the match to maintain control. Holding a 4-3 lead and tied 30-30 during the eighth game, she saved two straight overhead smashes. The second of those she somehow turned into a lob shot that clipped the baseline for a winner on her way to another break of serve and a 6-2, 6-3 win to get Ramapo on the board first.

“That one point was crazy and I was stunned that I got those shots back,” added Laino. “It was just a reflex, but I'm happy it went the way it did. I felt like it gave me a boost and I tried to force the action on every point after that.”

After a hotly contested opening set at first doubles, Liz Kogan and Nicolette Kohut won huge points in both the seventh and eighth games, a couple of long ones. That set the tone as the duo ripped off the final nine games of the match to give Ramapo a 2-0 lead.

The third point looked like it might come relatively easily with Sinoway and Strauss in complete control with a set already in hand and two match points up 5-1 in the second set. Tenafly's Isabel Kim and Yena Kwak had no quit in them and clawed their way back in the match. In total they fought off five match points over the next four games, winning all of them to tie the second set at 5. It should have been a crisis moment for lifelong friends Sinoway and Strauss, but nobody would have ever known thanks in part to their laid-back demeanor.

“I think we play really well together and we noticed little things about each other that help us throughout the match,” said Sinoway. “We seem to play doubles best with each other. We know when we need to pick each other up, get each other excited to win the next point, or just make the other person laugh so that we're more relaxed.”

Brianna Omar won at first singles for Ramapo, which will head to Mercer County Park for the Group 2 semifinals against a yet to be determined opponent.

Sinoway and Strauss' success returned with their aggressiveness at the net. After getting away from that during the Tenafly comeback, they got back what worked and started to dictate points once again. Sinoway hit a hard left-handed cross-court volley to pull Ramapo back in front. Strauss followed suit with a big volley of her own to close out a 7-5, 7-5 victory for the third point that clinched the North 1 Group 2 title for Ramapo.

Brianna Omar secured the other point for Ramapo (14-4) at first singles with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 over a former Bergen County champ, Tenafly's Sasha Shumyatsky. Tenafly (10-3) got its point at third singles with a hard-fought win by Nikki Gerber.

Ramapo now advances to the Group 2 semifinals and catches a break with an extra day of rest. The Green Raiders will face the winner of West Essex and Bernards, who had their North 2, Group 2 section final postponed until Wednesday. The Group 2 semis will be played at Mercer County Park in West Windsor at 11:00 A.M. With all the pressure off and their number one goal for the season now accomplished, it is finally time for the Ramapo players to let it all hang out and have some fun in the process.

 “It's like a dream for this team to win a section title,” said Laino. “I always wanted to be a singles player in high school and be a part of a team that won a section title. We're excited to go down to Mercer County Park and see how we do against the best teams in the state.”

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