They did; Schalick girls tennis takes down top-seeded Haddon Twp., reaches Group I final four for first time since 2016, faces New Providence in semis
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
HADDON TWP. – Before they boarded the bus for the ride up the interstate, each player on the Schalick girls tennis team found a small notecard by their locker, just like coach John Romano leaves for them every time they reach the sectional semifinals or finals.
It was one word. One powerful word for the day.
Believe.
Romano always believed his team had the ability to do it, but the players had to believe it. They did in a big way Tuesday, running over top-seeded Haddon Twp. 4-1 to win the South Jersey Group I girls tennis title and advance to the state tournament at Mercer County Park Thursday to face a yet-to-be named opponent.
Glen Rock, Glen Ridge and New Providence are the other finalists. The qualifiers will be reseeded prior to the semifinals. Based on their respective power points, Schalick (18-2) would be the No. 1 (160), followed by Glen Ridge (11-5, 100), Glen Rock (10-1, 73) and New Providence (7-4, 29).
(UPDATE WEDNESDAY: Schalick, seeded third, will play second-seeded New Providence at 9 a.m. Thursday at Mercer County Park; the winner will face the winner of Glen Ridge/Glen Rock at 1 p.m.)
It’ll be the Cougars’ first trip to the Final Four since 2016, when they lost in the semifinals to Kinnelon.
“All along, and this is no knock on Gateway or Haddon Twp., I truly thought we were the team … but they needed to believe,” Romano said. “From the time they started, this group of seniors, I really had a feeling they could play. They bought into it. They had to wait behind some really good talent that freshman year to get to the next level and once they did, all of them stepped up in a big way and they never looked back. It was the whole vision all along that you can do this.”
There were a lot of poignant moments in the match, moments that couldn’t have happened without that belief.
Grace O’Neill, a senior who had been on the short end of match-clinching points each of the last two tournament seasons, won her match at No. 2 singles 6-0, 6-3 to give the Cougars (18-2) a 2-1 lead in the match.
“This is our redemption year and we are ecstatic over this win,” O’Neill said.
They clinched the match at No. 2 doubles when senior Rachel Goranson and sophomore Miya Watkins battled back from a 2-5, 0-30 deficit in the first set to win 7-5, 6-3. It gave the Cougars an overall 3-1 lead and Ally Green, who clinched the sectional semifinal win over Gateway, closed it out at No. 3 singles with a 10-6 third set win.
You could say it was all in the card(s).
“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” Watkins said. “We were down 2-5, but we really persevered and we just focused on one point at a time and just thought of what Coach gave us, that card that said ‘Believe” and we really believed in ourselves to just get us to the end.”
“It was very inspiring,” Goranson said. “It hyped me up. I was super pumped and I was super ready to go out and execute. Of course, it was nerve-wracking for someone who hasn’t played tennis their whole life and picked it up very late in life. It was a very exciting moment to be able to have an encouragement from a coach. That’s something I feel like every athlete needs to have, the validation and the perseverance of a good coach.”
Besides the big “Believe” written on the front side of the card, Romano wrote the items the players needed to believe in. Things like themselves, the team and the goals they set at the beginning of the season.
“We got them all last year and we got a few this year, too,” O’Neill said. “Normally he’ll write a whole paragraph to motivate us, but this year he kept it short and simple and it all struck home for us. All of us believed in ourselves and we believed in each other. It was believing in ourselves that made the win.”
They didn’t have the notes for their sectional semifinal against Gateway, the team that had been their nemesis each of the last two years. They asked for them, but Romano decided to hold off, not wanting to overhype a match that already had a lot of emotion tied to it and believing they could get through it on their own merits.
But immediately after the Cougars dispatched the Gators, Romano knew what he was going to do and exactly what message he was going to convey.
Will there be a notecard for Thursday? Maybe not.
“I might have to tell them refer to the one for this,” Romano said. “It got the job done for this one, it might as well be for the next two.”
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I
GIRLS TENNIS SECTIONAL FINALS
SCHALICK 4, HADDON TWP. 1
Singles
Ellie Smith (H) def. Rachael Irizarry, 6-1, 6-1
Grace O’Neill (S) def. Catherine Smith, 6-0, 6-3
Ally Green (S) def. Cara Mulligan, 6-3, 1-6, 10-6
Doubles
Emma Adams-Katelyn Little (S) def. Kiersten Callahan-Shreya Raju, 6-1, 6-2
Rachel Goranson-Miya Watkins (S) def. Brielle Erickson-Morgan O’Kane, 7-5, 6-3
SECTIONAL FINALS
North 1: Glen Rock 5, Kinnelon 0
North 2: Glen Ridge 4, Whippany Park 1
Central: New Providence 4, Highland Park 1
South: Schalick 4, Haddon Twp. 1
NOTE: Qualifiers will be reseeded prior to the state semifinals
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