The tradition of tennis in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district is well known, and this year the legacy wrote itself yet another new chapter.
For the first time since West Windsor-Plainsboro North opened in 1997, both high schools won Central Jersey championships in the same year.
The top-seeded Northern Knights defeated 2nd-seeded Princeton, 3-2, in the Central Jersey Group III final, giving North its first sectional title since 2018 and second overall.
The 3rd-seeded Pirates edged top-seeded Princeton, 3-2, in the CJ IV final for their first sectional crown since 2014.
North fell to Ramapo, 3.5-1.5 in the Group III semifinal, while South beat Ridgewood 3-2 in the Group IV semis but fell to Ridge, 4-1, in the state final.
Either way, it was a tremendous year for both squads, who enjoyed dominating Central Jersey together.
“It was kind of a neat little thing,” first-year South coach Pat Kelly said. “It was awesome for them; they had a lot of seniors and it was great they could go out like that. And our girls were happy about it. Some of the girls are friends with the girls at North. We took the same bus over to the tournament (semifinals). I talk to the North coach from time to time, he’s been doing it for a while and he’s been helping me out.”
North coach Rich Arnold coaches the South boys in the spring, so he has an affinity for both schools.
“I thought it was very cool, especially since I coach at South,” he said, adding with a laugh, “It’s a little dicey with the girls, they don’t like me coaching at South. But I was rooting for them in their last match (against Ridgewood) before they got to the finals. It was very good tennis.”
South finished at 17-1 and was unstoppable until reaching the state finals.
Kelly had nothing but praise for his team.
“This was my first year coaching here and I wasn’t aware of the great tradition they had at South, but I found out fast,” he said. “The girls really came together and did a great job.”
In the CJ IV finals, victories came from first singles Rasika Anandakumar, third singles Anna Zhao, and the first doubles sister team of Caitlyn Co-Caris Co. The same three flights won in the Group III semis.
Anandakumar, a junior, was the team leader going 14-1-1 in dual matches at the all-important first singles.
“She was one of our captains, she definitely helped me in knowing what her teammates could do when I came in,” Kelly said. “She’s an extremely good player – obviously she must be since she plays first singles for a championship team. But she really was our anchor up top.”
Freshman Vanessa Kudelya went 7-6-1 at second doubles and won both of her first singles matches; and “she has some very good skills that will continue to develop,” according to Kelly.
Zhao was the lone senior among the singles starters, and she went 9-5-1 at third singles while winning both her second singles matches. es, had some powerful approach shots and did a nice job.”
The first doubles team of senior Caitlyn and sophomore Caris Co were a sparkling 14-1 and carried an undefeated dual match record into the state finals.
“They played second doubles last year and won the Mercer County Tournament title together,” Kelly noted. “This year they played extremely well in the fall.”
At second doubles, the pairing of senior Eliana Du and sophomore Sana Daway was an impressive 13-0.
“Eliana is our third captain and she’s the gel that keeps all the girls together,” Kelly said. “She’s a real pep-talk person and she is great at communicating with Sana. They played well together.”
With four underclassmen in the starting lineup, including two at the top of singles, Kelly is enthused about 2024, saying “We’ll look for another good year next season.”
North featured a more veteran lineup in finishing 12-4, and Arnold felt a loss to Robbinsville sandwiched the day between the sectional final and state semifinal may have drained the Northern Knights a bit.
“That was kind of a downer losing to them just the day before, and then to get up early for the states was tough,” he said. “But the girls were psyched to get off our courts and play at Mercer Park. They play night-and-day better at Mercer Park just like the boys do. They’re better courts, the balls bounce up higher and they’re real authentic hard courts. So the girls play much better there.”
The CJ III finals were a rematch from a dual match earlier this season, which WW-PN also won 3-2. In Round 2, second singles Megan Chung and third singles Jayani Velsamy notched victories, as did second doubles Odette Liu-Anusha Kumar.
With the score tied 2-2, Velsamy was playing for the deciding match point against Katie Qin. After losing the first match, 6-3, Velsamy won 7-6 (7-1), and then won a 10-4 tiebreak set.
“If you watched that first set, Jayani was huffing and puffing, she hit a million balls,” Arnold said. “And then she just found it. After that performance she was our MVP, I don’t even have to think about it.
“I’m telling ya, she gutted it out. Even the other coach commented on it. She doesn’t play a big hitting game. I call her the dissector. She goes side to side to side and then a drop shot. The South girl and the Princeton girl both do the same thing she does, so it’s like two of the same people playing. Who’s gonna outfox each other? They don’t play a lot of net, and they just groundstroke and punch.”
The senior finished 13-3 in dual matches and also went 3-0 at first singles.
In looking at the rest of his lineup, Arnold noted that sophomore Eva Fea and junior Megan Chung switched flights this year with Fea moving to number one singles and Chung going to two.
“Megan had a lot of tough losses at number one and found a new confidence this year,” Arnold said. “She had a better serve and a forehand that is really big and stays on the court. She was hitting balls with her forehand as hard as the pros hit, and I’m not exaggerating.”
Chung finished 11-2 in dual matches and also picked up a first singles win.
At first singles, Fea was 9-5-1, while at first doubles, junior Anjali Vemuri and senior Isabelle Hufnagel went 10-6 and at second doubles seniors Odettie Liu and Anusha Kumar finished 10-2.
“Eva has drastically improved her serve and her fitness,” Arnold said. “Our number three won 95 percent of her matches and the doubles won most of their matches.”
Overall, Arnold felt there was not a weakness on the team.
“We were well rounded, basically,” he said. “We’re gonna lose a lot of kids this year. We had a lot of people who played with each other before in doubles. There wasn’t too much new blood coming in this year.
“We felt we could have a very good year. We knew South would always be tough and they were tough. We lost to 3-2 to them. South is very good, they’re gonna be in the Top Eight in the state when it’s all said and done.”
South did not finish that high up but one thing is for certain – for the first time ever North and South were number one in the central part of the state.
Members of the High School North tennis after winning CJ 3 title. Pictured are Anjali Vemuri (left), Eva Fea, Isabelle Hufnagel, Jayani Velsamy, Anusha Kumar, Odette Liu, Megan Chung and Deblina Chanda.,
