High Point finds success on tennis court

SUSSEX BOROUGH — After a very difficult season in which a sports program suffers one tough loss after another, the players can either wallow in self-pity and play the blame game or they can buckle down, learn from previous mistakes, work both harder and smarter and make the improvements necessary to become more competitive the following year.

The High Point High School girls' tennis team fought hard during the 2014 season, but they were unable to capture many victories. That all changed as the Wildcats were able to find their share of success on the court against some considerably strong opposition this year in 2015.

“The most impressive part of the season to me was that we went from being 3-15 last year to 12-8 this year," High Point coach Chris Dexter said.

The Wildcats finished with a record of 5-5 in Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Divisional play. A 3-2 triumph against Lenape Valley in September stands out as being among the most significant wins all season for Dexter.

“Beating Lenape Valley the first time around was a big victory for us," Dexter said. “The whole team surprised me [with the improvements they made from the first practice to the last match of the season]."

High Point also advanced to the NJSIAA North I Group II sectional tournament as the No. 9 seed, but they were defeated in the opening round by eighth-seeded Ramsey. Ramapo, the second seed in the North I Group II bracket won the sectional title. Holmdel defeated Ramapo for the Group II State Championship.

Leadership was in great quantity for the Wildcats this fall, something that the head coach certainly noticed.

“Angel Rosequist had a great season at second singles winning 15 matches," Dexter said. “Cassi Culmone led us playing at the top of the line-up at first singles which is always a difficult spot. Our first doubles team of Christy Romaniello and Morgan Sopov had a great year and qualified for the state doubles tournament.’’

Romaniello and Sopov lost to Lizzy Benedict and Sarah Smith from Haddonfield in the first round of the state doubles tournament.

The contributions made by the senior class for High Point will be both missed and remembered. But, there is always a next year and the Wildcats must prepare to the best of their abilities for what awaits them on the courts next fall.

“We will be an extremely young team next year that will be rebuilding as we graduate five seniors," Dexter said.