Ramapo Tennis Keeps on Rolling

If anyone had an excuse to be sluggish on a Monday, it was the Ramapo girls' tennis team. While the rest of us were recharging our batteries on the weekend, the Lady Raiders were busy both Saturday and Sunday capturing the Bergen County large schools tournament.

There was little time to revel in that victory with a match against Dwight Englewood, the top ranked team in the county, looming on Monday afternoon.

Despite learning just before the match that their top singles player, sophomore Lisa Jouravleva, would be shelved with a shoulder injury, Ramapo took to the court on a hot afternoon with no intention of cooling off, and improved to 7-1 this season with a 3-2 win.

“We’re on such a tremendous high right now,” said coach Kim Marchese. “We’ve had so many close matches over the last few days, and to come out here and beat another strong team without Lisa [Jouravleva], I absolutely couldn’t be more proud of these girls right now.”

Straight set victories at second and third singles by Ariella Omar (6-2, 6-2) and Linda Lee (6-0, 6-4), respectively, and a come-from-behind win by Abby Roberts and Alison Nolte at first doubles, 7-5, 6-4, keyed the win.

Jouravleva advanced to the first singles final on Sunday, and was forced to retire from the match following the first set with a shoulder injury. The sophomore has missed the first few weeks of the season with a broken foot.

“At this point, we don’t know if the injury to Lisa is a big thing or a little thing,” added Marchese. “We like the challenge of showing what we can do without our top singles player. We’re pulling out the close matches, and it’s been fun for the players and fun for the coaches to pull together and enjoy the success we’ve had.”

Ramapo (seeded ninth) collected 14 points in the tournament, topping Northern Highlands (12) and Holy Angels and Pascack Hills, which tied for third with eight points.

Omar won the title at third singles, and senior captain Katie Nerlino advanced to the semifinals at second singles. Ramapo’s first doubles team of Roberts and Nolte also won a position title—despite having to play three matches Sunday after their quarterfinal was postponed due to darkness.

Although Roberts, a sophomore with no varsity experience prior to this season, and Nolte, a third-year starter, started slowly Monday afternoon, falling behind 4-0 in the first set, they roared back to pull out an inspiring victory.

“Lisa coming back was a shot in the arm to everyone, and now there’s a cloud over us not knowing how long she’ll be out,” said Marchese. “But knowing how my seniors have embraced the younger players—to see Katie after she lost her match yesterday with her arm around Ariella after she’d just dropped a set—I like our focus and our heart.”

After Tuesday’s match with Hackensack, Ramapo gets a break in the schedule and goes a full week without a match. The rest will do the entire team some good, both from the physical and mental standpoints.

Said Marchese: “We referred to the first few weeks of the season as Pre-Lisa, and at the moment we’re Post-Lisa. If we have to keep
winning without her for a while, we’re ready to do it.”