Woodstown, Pennsville, Schalick all survive girls tennis tournament openers; roundup also includes Tuesday’s cross country, girls soccer results
GIRLS TENNIS
South Jersey Group 1 Playoffs
Schalick 5, Buena 0
Woodstown 5, Palmyra 0
Pennsville 5, Salem 0
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — Third-seeded Woodstown avoided a couple potential mental traps and easily got through its opening-round match in the South Jersey Group I girls tennis tournament Tuesday.
The Wolverines needed less than an hour to dispatch 14th-seeded Palmyra 5-0. County and TCC Diamond Division rivals Schalick and Pennsville also advanced with 5-0 sweeps.
The opening round had the potential to trip up the Wolverines in a number of ways if they weren’t focused. They hadn’t played in a week — two matches were rained out — and were facing an opponent that hadn’t won a match all season.
But they showed they meant business when they went 6-0 in the first set of four of their five matches and No. 2 singles Alyssa Berry put their first point on the board in about 35 minutes. Nathalie and Noelle Neron also won their singles matches, while the doubles teams of Madison LaPalomento-Emilee Kehr and Emma West-Angelina Lindenmuth swept the doubles.
“There’s been some slight apprehension, like we were out here saying we feel like we haven’t played in forever, it’s been so long since we had a match,” Berry said. “But warming up and hitting, it kind of comes back to you.
“You always start out a little more careful, but as you get the swing of things then you feel more confident.”
All five of the Wolverines’ wins came in straight sets. They dropped only four games all day. Palmyra had won only one (doubles) match in their six previous starts this season.
“When you play a team like that, you never know what you’re going to get,” Woodstown coach Jesse Stemberger said. “You see 0-6, but I’ve seen a team win a state championship that was 2-7 going into the playoffs … There are so some teams out there that you don’t know much about that aren’t what their records indicate, so you try not to look past anybody.
“For an 0-6 team, (Palmyra) battled. They worked hard. They pushed us in some positions. They made us earn it. This was not a walkover. They made us earn it.
“One of the things we try to instill in them is to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat. So, if you see an 0-6 team, don’t underestimate them, but when you get out there and you start playing, if you see that you’re better than them don’t let them think they have a chance. Just go out there and do your job, and I think we did that. I was a little concerned about rust, but they went out there and did some nice things.”
Next up for the Wolverines is sixth-seeded Schalick in the Oct. 7 quarterfinals – one day after they play each other ifor the outright Classic Division lead. The next day the Cougars play Pennsville after the Eagles host fifth-seeded Audubon in the quarterfinals.
Top photo: Woodstown coach Jesse Stemberger (R) talks with Alyssa Berry after her victory put the Wolverines’ first point on the board Tuesday.
NO. 3 WOODSTOWN 5, NO. 14 PALMYRA 0
Nathalie Neron (WO) def. Grace Stavely, 6-0, 6-0
Alyssa Berry (WO) def. Sidney Lim, 6-0, 6-0
Noelle Neron (WO) def. Jane Ancker, 6-1, 6-2
Madison LaPalomento-Emilee Kehr (WO) def. Jasmine Martinez-Karly Klipple, 6-0, 6-1
Emma West-Angelina Lindenmuth (WO) def. Lucy Reigel-Olivia Gallagher, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Woodstown 8-3, Palmyra 0-7.
NO. 6 SCHALICK 5, NO. 11 BUENA 0
Miya Watkins (S) def. Caroline Futty, 6-0, 6-1
Annmarie Podehl (S) def. Tiffany Chen, 6-2, 6-0
Macy Clow (S) def. Kara Horton, 6-0, 6-0
Olivia Lunemann-Sebrina Bradford (S) def. Makenna Feaster-Kiara Hobdy, 6-0, 6-0
Sammi Twigg-Jasmine Hunt (S) def. Julie Tomasso-Alondra Lausell, 6-2, 6-1
Records: Schalick 6-3, Buena 5-5.
NO. 4 PENNSVILLE 5, NO. 13 SALEM 0
Lily Edwards (P) def. Angelina Fothergill, 6-1, 6-2
Isabell Schrenker (P) def. JaNye Hubbard, 6-2, 6-1
Morgan Holt (P) def. Tahirah Davenport-White, 6-1, 6-1
Naomi Hess-Emma Hankin (P) def. Heaven Jones-McCullough-Zaniyah Frieson, 6-0, 6-0
Graillyn Weber-Yerlian Charon (P) def. Evangeline Jiminez Barreto-Erica Brewer, 6-0, 6-0
Records: Pennsville 9-4, Salem 2-7.
SJ GROUP ! QUARTERFINALS
Oct. 7
No. 9 Lower Cape May at No. 1 Pitman
No. 5 Audubon at No. 4 Pennsville
No. 6 Schalick at No. 3 Woodstown
No. 10 Wildwood at No. 2 Haddon Twp.
Oct. 9
Semifinals
Oct. 14
Finals
GIRLS SOCCER
Pennsville 9, Salem Tech 0
Woodstown 4, Pitman 0
Glassboro 8, Salem 1
Gloucester Catholic 6, Penns Grove 0
PENNSVILLE 9, SALEM TECH 0: First-time scorers Isabella Marandola, Anastasia Moore and Maura Widener were among nine goal-scorers for the Eagles. It was the most goals they’ve scored in a game since a 9-2 win over Salem in October 2021.
WOODSTOWN 4, PITMAN 0: Delia Hahn scored her first career goal and Ellie Wygand was in goal for the shutout.
GLASSBORO 8, SALEM 1: Amina Brown scored 40 seconds into the match and the Bulldogs scored four times in the first six minutes. Carlysia Pierce scored Salem’s goal.
GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 6, PENNS GROVE 0: Bella Laumer scored twice as the Rams won their seventh straight and recorded their fourth straight shutout.
CROSS COUNTRY
KINGSWAY TCC BATCH MEET
BOYS TOP 20: Trevor Szilier, Washington Twp. 16:41.81; Matthew Littlehales, Delsea 16:49.78; Andrew Dopkin, Highland 16:54.83; Michael Beaver, Kingsway 17:05.80; Liam Murphy, Highland 17:13.52; Payton Veilleux, Kingsway 17:22.57; Gavin Rakitis, Glassboro 17:24.02; Zacchaeus Harrigan, Glassboro 17:24.22; Jaeden Wesley, Glassboro 17:24.42; Joseph Saicic, Glassboro 17:42.62; Rhys Blackman, Pitman 17:30.52; Leandro Santiago, Timber Creek 17:31.84; Ryan Pancoast, Timber Creek, 17:32.79; Blair Duckrey-Furbert, Timber Creek 17:34.84; Karson Chew, Woodstown 17:55.00; Logan Pavelik, Williamstown 17:56.56; Aaron Johnson, Glassboro 17:58.26; Jacob Marino, Woodstown 18:00.05; Oluwanifemi Fadulu, Highland 18:01.30.
OTHER SALEM COUNTY TEAM LEADERS: 31. Chase Riley, Schalick 18:15:22; 58. Anthony Morano, Salem Tech 19:32.57; 67. John Johnson, Penns Grove 19:45.31; 77. Gradin Buzby, Salem 20:00.63; 109: Logan Cowperthwait, Pennsville 22:00.99.
GIRLS TOP 20: Sophia Aldridge, Williamstown 19:25.62; Aubrey Bishop, Kingsway 20:01.41; Abby Marino, Woodstown 20:57.30; Yazmire Bonhomme, Williamstown 21:32.15; Julianne Roes, Clearview 21:39.12; Julia Burgio, Williamstown 21:40.79; Ava Buchanan, Kingsway 21:41.51; Olivia Mashburn, Delsea 21:50.97; Julia Blanchard, Washington Twp. 21:54.53; Anabel Schaal, Woodstown 22:00.10; Brooke Mashburn, Delsea 22:00.57; Isabella Moran, Delsea 22:00.81; Rhea Remaly, Clearview 22:31.11; Sofia Moran, Delsea 22:34.99; Rachael Williams, Clearview 22:39.69; Lillian Pedersen, Clearview 22:39.86; Layla Chain, Washington Twp. 22:47.40; Helen Lillia, Schalick 23:13.24; Leah Hagerman, Clearview 23:14.39; Kate Yanek, Clearview 23:15.54.
OTHER SALEM COUNTY TEAM LEADERS: 28. Sawyer Slad, Pennsville 23:52.78; 61. Abigail Vanaman, Salem Tech, 27:08.65;
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