Ramapo Tennis Comes Up Aces as State Tournament Looms

Big North V rivals Ramapo (8-0) and Fair Lawn (2-5) squared off Wednesday on the Cutters' home court but it was not to their advantage as the Raiders came in and made themselves at home with a 4-1 victory.

"I think the girls were anxious to put the memory of the county tournament on the backburner," said Ramapo head coach Kim Marchese, who saw his three top singles players all fall in the finals this past weekend. "Now that we have states on the horizon it's important to get that winning feel back as a group."

The Raiders accomplished that and then some by dominating the Cutters behind the strength of a number of solid performances.

First doubles pair Kristen Pizzolo and Olivia Hartgers were the first Raiders to reach the winners circle with a straight-set victory 6-0, 6-0. Their teamwork continued off the court, as well, with the girls finishing each other's thoughts.

"We wanted to come out and play as aggressive as we could," said Pizzolo, with Hartgers jumping in to add, "We were able to string together a number of solid volleys, and I think our consistency is what eventually wore them down."

Aggressiveness and consistency seemed to be the theme of the day for the Raiders, as they would go on to win the next two matches to seal the victory. Second and third singles Katie Nerlino (6-0, 6-0) and Julie Friedberg (6-1, 6-0) both coasted to victory to give Ramapo the win, but to Fair Lawn's credit, they never stopped battling.

The Cutters' Valerie Shklover won the first singles match by defeating fellow freshman phenom Lisa Jouravleva 6-4, 6-2. Shklover's only loss of the season came this past weekend to Ramapo ace Amanda Muliawan in the county semifinals, but she was denied a rematch as Muliawan sat out to rest.

"I have mixed feelings about her not playing," said Shklover. "On one hand you always want to play the best to prove you can compete at that level, but on the other hand if I played like I did today she probably would have beaten me."

The Cutters will be underdogs when they travel to Morristown this afternoon for the first round of the state tournament, although coach Matt Markman doesn't think it'll be as lopsided as the rankings might suggest.

"Over the years I've noticed that when you travel outside of Bergen County the competition tends to be weaker so in retrospect a third seed ends up playing more like a sixth or seventh."

While the Cutters are battling to try and advance the Raiders will be at home relaxing thanks to a first-round bye. Second-seeded Ramapo will instead await the winner of Paramus and West Milford, whom they will host later next week.

"I feel good where the team's at right now," said an upbeat Marchese. "We have tremendous depth up and down the lineup, and we'll be a tough out for any team we face."

RESULTS

 1^st Singles:

Valerie Shklover (F) defeats Lisa Jouravleva (R) 6-4, 6-2

2^nd Singles:

Katie Nerlino (R) defeats Shelley Cherkassky (F) 6-0, 6-0

3^rd Singles:

Julie Friedberg (R) defeats Jessica Perchuk (F) 6-1, 6-0

1^st Doubles:

Kristen Pizzolo & Olivia Hartgers (R) defeats Suzy Simkin & Samantha Altman (F) 6-0, 6-0

2^nd Doubles:

Jackie Mahedy & Abbey Roberts (R) defeats Valerie Pavlou & Katerina Belincher 6-0, 6-1