Ramapo Girls Shrug Off Adversity

They were two of the most dominant players in the county last year, and they were expected to be the backbone of the Ramapo girls’ tennis team again this year.

Then came a pair of tough breaks.

First, Lisa Jouraleva, last year’s freshman sensation, broke her ankle playing in a USTA event on August 1. A month later, defending state champ and All American Amanda Muliawan decided to forego her senior season under the weight of an intense USTA schedule and college visits.

That left only seniors Katie Nerlino and Alison Nolte as experienced varsity returnees, and lots of question marks. Just two weeks into the season, some of those have been answered, as Ramapo has jumped out to a 2-0 mark, and reinforcements are on the way now that Jouraleva is mobile enough to start swinging her racquet again.

According to 26-year coach Kim Marchese, a little adversity might prove to be good for the soul.

“The girls have really responded well,” said Kim Marchese, of the loss of Muliawan, virtually unbeatable in her three years, and Jouraleva, 20-4 at No. 2 singles last season. “We’re excited about the challenges ahead. One thing about a less experienced team is that it improves more quickly, and we’ve come a long way in the first two weeks of the season.”

As a four-year starter, Katie Nerlino leads Ramapo in experience and onto the court at No. 1 singles. The senior was 18-7 last year, and has shined in the role of captain this year. Two freshman—Ariella Omar and Linda Lee— fill out the No. 2 and No. 3 singles spots, and when the Raiders surprised Ridgewood last week, 3-2, in the season opener, straight set wins by Omar and Lee were among the keys to the victory.  

Senior Alison Nolte, a third-year starter, teams up with sophomore Abbey Roberts at first doubles. At second doubles is junior Karen Ando, and sophomore Rachel Swensen, while Sydney Shilan, a senior, and junior Michelle Gitlen are at third doubles. Roberts, Ando, Swensen and Shilan all played for the JV last year. Nolte broke into the varsity as a sophomore playing second doubles and third singles (where she’s gone 13-6), but only played 10 matches last year due to an illness. She is upholding a family tradition in that she’s following the footsteps of her brother Adam, a four-year mainstay with the Ramapo boys’ team.

“The two returning seniors have been unbelievably good with the freshmen,” added Marchese. “And our girls do a lot over the course of the season to that keeps them close as a group—like our pasta parties—and we have some other great traditions. We’ve had great captains over the years, and Katie is just the most recent of those.”

Mostly there’s been a winning tradition. Last year success was nothing out of the ordinary; Ramapo was league champs, finished second in the county tournament and won a state sectional. Factor in the tremendous strides the team has made so far this season with the imminent return of Jouraleva, and Ramapo should once again be in the thick of it for league and county honors—despite losing a two-time North Jersey Player of the Year, and one ranked No. 23 by the Tennis Recruiting Network.

“Amanda was only really around about one-third of the time these past few years,” said Marchese. “We’ve had strong teams, but she put
us over the top. We were glad to have her for the seasons we did, and I understand that between the college selection process, and her USTA schedule that it all just got to be too much.”

Muliawan’s departure puts the spotlight more squarely on Jouraleva, who broke her ankle during a rally she wound up winning to earn match point. The fact that she managed to continue playing and won the next point and the match should tell her teammates all they need to know about her battle level.

When Marchese looks back on his more than quarter of a century at the helm, he cites several keys to the success of the program. He remembers back when there was no JV team, and he was responsible for 15 varsity girls on four courts. Today, both the varsity and JV teams, under sixth-year coach Lorraine Preziosi, are thriving. The teams have had six courts at their disposal for the past nine years, and Preziosi’s husband Mike is a volunteer assistant coach with the varsity.

“Having an additional coach—especially one of Mike’s caliber—has been invaluable,” said Marchese. “Now we have 23 girls with three coaches and six courts, so the girls are getting much more 1-on-1 time, and that makes a huge difference.”

So does having the rough breaks behind them.