Chatham Girls Tennis Team Wraps Up Successful Season

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham girls tennis team finished the season with a 15-2 record and the Morris County Tournament championship, and advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament.

The Cougars earned the No. 2 seed in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tournament. After defeating 10th-seeded North Hunterdon, 4-1, in the quarterfinals on Oct. 5, they lost to third-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 3-2, in the semifinals on Oct. 8.

“I think the team gave everything they had on the court,” said Chatham head coach James Cai of the state semifinal match. “It was a dramatic match, and it came down to the third singles court. Our captain, Cameron Sims, split sets with her opponents and was down 2-4 in the third set. She had to fight through her previous calf injury from the county tournament to come back to tie the match at 4-4. It got too dark, and we had to postpone the match to the next day. It was a close battle the next day, and we were a couple of points away from winning the match. However, it didn’t go our way.”

The Morris County Tournament title was Chatham’s eighth straight county championship.

“Overall, the team performed much better than what I and everyone else on the team had anticipated, especially after losing our two best players from last year,” Cai said. “The highlight of the season was definitely the eighth straight Morris County Tournament, and the best match we played was the state match against Scotch Plains. We lost to an opponent who ended up winning the state group championship, and we were that close against them.”

The team was led by first doubles team Sophia Paparo and Sarah Fidora and second doubles team Siena Wong and Jin Zhang.

“Both of my doubles teams performed well, and they remained undefeated for all of their regular-season matches,” Cai said.

The doubles teams qualified for the state doubles tournament. Wong and Zhang defeated Kelsey White and Grace Sullivan of Trinity Hall in the first round on Oct. 2. They lost to Jacqueline Arbogast and Emma Coughlin of Holy Angels in the second round on Oct. 3.

Fidora and Paparo lost in the first round to Katie Chung and Katie Nossa of Montclair Kimberley Academy on Oct. 2.

Laura Egan and Zhang were new to the team this year, and each made an impression.

“My first singles, Laura Egan, and Jin Zhang both had a great season,” Cai said. “Laura had a nine-match winning streak, and Jin stayed undefeated for the regular season.”

Egan competed in the state singles tournament. She defeated Alex Presutti of Ranney in the first round and lost to Leticia Kitio of Lawrence in the second round, both on Oct. 2.

The team will lose two seniors, Sims and Sam Greenwood, to graduation.

“This year I only have two graduating seniors. Cameron has been with the tennis program for four years, and she has been a leader both on and off the court,” Cai said. “Sam has also been an integral part of the team as she was always there to help her teammates and coach.”

Cai said next year’s team will look very similar to this year’s team.

“With six out of seven players returning, I think we will still remain competitive and hopefully go a little further for the state tournament,” he said.