By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School girls tennis team has only two returning varsity players this season, turning it into a true rebuilding year. However, realignment of the league because of the coronavirus should give the girls a fighting chance.
“Our main priority this season is to gain experience, but with the way they we’re playing teams that are out of our conference typically – Middle Township, Lower Cape May, Wildwood Catholic – our competition is aligned perfectly for our rebuilding year, coach Samantha DiMatteo said during the match against Mainland Regional Thursday, Oct. 1.
“I feel a lot of the teams we play we’ll be competitive with. I think we’ll have a strong season, even considering the fact we have a majority of new players,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the season. We’re glad we’re getting it in.”
Noting that Mainland “is certainly our toughest competition in the league this year,” DiMatteo said varsity is a new experience for most of her players. (The girls lost to Mainland, 5-0, after beating Atlantic City and Wildwood Catholic earlier in the week.)
For five of the seven starting players, the coach said it’s the first time for them on varsity. And for the two that are now the top two singles, one was at second doubles and the other split her time between JV and varsity.
“Considering, they’ve adjusted well and they’re just getting their feet wet with the competition at the varsity level so it’s definitely a change from the level they played in the past,” DiMatteo said before running down her lineup.
Charis Holmes is first singles. “She was at second doubles last year and she has just improved dramatically,” DiMatteo said. “I loved her as a doubles player. She was great at the net and great at the baseline. For those reasons I also love her as a singles player. She plays aggressive. She is always willing to learn to get better and she always does it with a smile. She’s awesome to coach.”
At second singles is Emily Tumelty, the only senior on the varsity squad. (The coach lost six seniors to graduation in the spring.)
Tumelty, she said, “ played first JV for me most of last year and played some varsity matches. Her singles play is aggressive. She leaves it all on the court. She doesn’t give up.”
At third singles is freshman Alexis Allegretto, who quickly surprised the coach.
With 41 girls on the team, DiMatteo seeded her pretty low among the freshmen. That didn’t last.
“She climbed her way right up that ladder,” the coach said. “She went from being seeded in the 30s and now here she is at third singles. She certainly is somebody to watch, I would definitely say. My assistant calls her ‘hungry.’ She’s hungry to be the best she can. She wants to improve. She wants to play tennis in the future in college, so as a freshman it’s a great goal to have and great for our team too.”
First doubles is Ciera Howard, who played first JV most of last year, and Noelle Graham, who was also a JV player. “They’re playing first doubles together. They are both new to the varsity squad and are getting their feet wet with the competition but they are competitors and they are aggressive and their strokes are beautiful and they’re good at the net, so I see good things for them as first doubles,” DiMatteo said.
At second doubles are Paige Brown and Zoe Bourgeois. “My favorite thing about them is the way they click as a pair. I think they’re a great team,” she said. “I’ve only had them together for a few weeks because of the way the situation is (with the shortened season and two-week break in September because of COVID-19 restrictions). With the season, we’ve only really had a few weeks to get things together. Right away I was able to tell they are a good dynamic duo.”