Shoes screeched across the court as the first doubles team, junior Emma Legaspi and senior Sophia Mai, battled in the final rally of set one against a tough private school opponent, Oak Knoll. With a furious backhand, Westfield took the final point and won the first set; the only set Westfield would win in the entire match.
On Monday, in their second meeting of the season, tensions grew high in the second doubles match between Westfield and Oak Knoll. Senior Abby Pisarra said, “[Oak Knoll] was clapping when we hit it into the net, which is not allowed, and that just gets into your head during the game.”
The cracks in sportsmanship came as a result of a season-spanning rivalry so far this year. The two teams split in the regular season and are shaping up to face off in the Union County Tournament. Pisarra said, “It is definitely bitter to lose, but we’ll see them in counties and get them then.”
Despite Oak Knoll’s convincing performance on Monday, there was no shortage of competition. Junior Lauren Roszak had a very competitive top singles match with a familiar competitor. Roszak said their first match earlier in the season “ended up going to a third-set tiebreaker, with [Roszak] saving two match points in the tiebreaker to win after two and a half hours.”
The Westfield squad has had a rigorous past two weeks with nine matches, which may have affected their ability to perform at their best. Roszak said, “I knew I would have to be on top of my game to beat a tough competitor like [Oak Knoll], so I tried to focus on an aggressive, yet controlled playing style. Unfortunately, my body had different plans.”
Given the taxing past few weeks, Roszak recognized, “It is important for everyone to get plenty of rest to prepare for the coming matches, especially Scotch Plains-Fanwood.” Alongside the physical toll these matches had on the team, Roszak noted the necessity to maintain good mental fortitude: “Tennis is not only a physical sport but also a mental sport, and feeling good off the court will lead to good results on match day.”
Nonetheless, with only a couple of weeks until the Union County Tournament, Westfield is in full mid-season form, ready for Union County’s best. Pisarra noted that there were signs of progressing talent on the team, “Our third singles, [senior] Ava Holzman, has shown improvement. She can get every single ball back, whether it’s an amazing shot by the opponent or just like a regular shot, she’s able to get everything back.”
Despite the loss, coach Samantha Nichols expressed confidence in the team’s ability to use this experience to come back stronger: “In the long run, losses like this show us exactly what we need to work on and push us to work even harder for the next time we face them.”
