PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHY REKUCKI
From left, Ridgewood freshman Sophia Swanson, junior Alex Absey and senior Elizabeth O’Keefe all reached the large-school finals at last weekend’s Bergen County tournament. Absey navigated the third-singles bracket to earn a place in the championship match, while Swanson and O’Keefe teamed up to do the same at first doubles.
Pair of finalists propels Ridgewood Girls Tennis to second in Bergen tournament
OCTOBER 2, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RHS first doubles and third singles reach title matches in large-schools bracket
If just one more match went in its favor, the Ridgewood High School girls tennis team would be celebrating after earning at least a share of the Bergen County large-schools crown.
Unfortunately for the Maroons, not all the bounces went their way, but there are still plenty of positives to extract from this past weekend’s tournament, not least of which is the motivation Ridgewood now has heading into the state sectionals.
The Maroons placed finalists in two brackets, which helped drive them to a second-place finish in the large-schools division with 10 points, just behind Holy Angels’ 11.
“Of course we were pleased with the finish we had but a little disappointed that we couldn’t clinch, but credit Holy Angels for their strong play in the tournament,” Ridgewood head coach Medha Kirtane said in a phone interview earlier this week.
Elizabeth O’Keefe and Sophia Swanson, seeded third at first doubles, reached the finals where they fell to top-seeded Danielle Mandel and Anna Antonova of Fair Lawn.
Meanwhile, third-singles player Alex Absey battled her way through the bracket as a second seed, making her way to the finals before being knocked off by Indian Hills’ Ariella Shugleyt, 6-1, 6-4.
The Maroons improved on last year’s performance in the tournament, when they finished in a tie for second with eight points.