LINWOOD – The Mainland Regional and Ocean City High School tennis teams opened their seasons against each other Sept. 2 with new lineups.
The Mustangs came away the victors in a close 3-2 match.
Mainland coach Eileen Hartis is looking at a completely new singles lineup so the Mustangs are facing some unknowns.
“We lost some terrific players with Christina (Htay) and Marlee (Campbell). That’s tough to replace,” she said. “We’re kind of rebuilding and just seeing where we are right now.”
First singles is Marlee Campbell’s younger sister, junior Macenzi Campbell, moving up from first doubles last season. “She’s worked very hard but it’s a brand new spot for her going from first dubs to first singles. It’s a pretty big leap. So we’re hoping for the best for it. We just want her to go out and play her best. She’s a terrific leader already as a junior.”
Her partner from last year, Jessica Wise, is now second singles.
“She’s a senior. She is steady and solid and tends to stay levelheaded all the time and usually doesn’t let anything get to her. I like that mental toughness about her,” Hartis said. “Her strokes are really nice. She worked a lot with her brother who played here.”
Third singles is sophomore Riya Dabas, who got a couple matches in last year as a sub for third singles.
Hartis said she worked hard throughout the off-season and as a sophomore should grow into the position. “Her groundstrokes are gorgeous,” she added.
The coach has “an interesting combo” at first doubles – girls who were second doubles two years ago, Lily Turner and Hana Saloum. Last season Turner was third singles and Saloum didn’t play tennis.
“Lily and Hana are going to match up at first doubles for the first time in two years. Both of them have great strokes and really can hit the ball,” Hartis said. “Hopefully they remember how to play doubles and that’ll be great.”
Second doubles is sophomore Daisy Turner and senior Dilana Erenier. They played second doubles last season as well and had a “tremendous” challenge match against first doubles. “They were very strong last year,” Hartis said, with a record of 15-2 or 15-3. “Hopefully they still have their magic, their chemistry together,” she added.
Overall, Hartis said the team doesn’t know what to expect, but she has a squad with good kids she hopes will grow along the way.
Ocean City coach Tom Ballezzi lost two seniors to graduation, including No. 1 Catherine Stempin.
“Whenever we lose our number one, that’s always tough,” he said. “We also lost a senior at number three, Sam Savell, but we have a lot of girls this year who were working really hard over the off-season. We have three juniors at our one, two, and three singles and then a mix of three seniors and a junior at our doubles.”
That is a lot of upperclassmen. “It’s a good group,” he said.
Cecelia Mirsky is the No. 1 singles this season, moving up from the No. 2 spot last year. Anna Wisnefski is at No. 2 after playing first doubles last season and Sydney Halliday has the No. 3 singles spot. She played second doubles last season.
“Two seniors graduated so those spots were up for grabs and they were able to capitalize on that opportunity,” Ballezzi said. He believes Wisnefski and Halliday will transition well from doubles to singles.
Junior Annabelle Terruso will again be at first doubles, this time partnered with Olivia Davis, who was on JV last year. Caitlin Grimley and Peyton Laricks, who have been in the tennis program, will partner up at second doubles.
“Our goal is to be better at the end of the season than where we were at the start of our season,” Ballezzi said. “The girls understand that the only way to do this is by working hard every single day at practice. They know working hard doesn’t guarantee success, but no success is possible without hard work.
“That’s really what we embody here. They bring hard work and great attitude every single day. That’s all we can ask for as coaches.”
In the match, Mirsky topped Campbell at first singles, 6-2, 6-1, and Wisnefski beat Wise in a tight match at second singles, 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 10-4.
Mainland won the other three matches.
Babas beat Halliday 7-5, 6-4 at third singles; Saloum and Turner won 6-1, 6-4 over Davis and Terruso at first doubles; and at second doubles, Turner and Erenier won 6-2, 6-3 over Grimley and Laricks.
Later in the week, Mainland topped Lower Cape May Regional 3-2 and Holy Spirit 4-1 to improve to 3-0. Ocean City fell to Vineland 3-2 then beat Absegami 5-0 for a 1-2 record.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
