FIRST CLASS: Princeton High girls’ tennis star Christina Rosca goes after the ball last week at the Mercer County Tournament. Junior Rosca won her second straight MCT first singles title, helping PHS to the team championship. It was the program’s first MCT team crown since 1984. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Tennis star Christina Rosca has a lot on her plate this fall in her junior year at Princeton High.

The defending New Jersey state high school singles champion, who has risen to the mid-20s in the 18-and-under national rankings, is playing in USTA events around the country on the weekends. During the week, she is keeping busy by
taking five Advanced Placement courses.

But Rosca was determined to carve out time from her hectic schedule to keep competing for the PHS girls’ tennis squad.

“They are all really good players and they are all really good people,” said Rosca.

“I really enjoy being with them. It is really enjoyable to be in a team environment compared to playing as an individual all the time.”

Last Wednesday, Rosca and her PHS teammates enjoyed a special day as the squad won the team title at the Mercer County Tournament (MCT), taking the crown for the first time since 1984 and earning its first championship under the event’s current five-flight format which was adopted in the late 1980s.

As usual, Rosca led the way at the top of the lineup, taking the first singles title without losing a set in her four matches, beating Brianna Shvets of Hopewell Valley 6-2, 6-1 in the championship match.

While Rosca was happy to defend her first singles crown, she was thrilled to see the Little Tigers prevail as they edged runner-up and perennial power WW/P-S with WW/P-N taking third.

“It means a lot,” said Rosca. “We have been really close the last two years and some unfortunate things have happened, some injuries and stuff like that.”

In reflecting on closing out Shvets in the title match, Rosca saw her match experience as a critical factor.

“No matter who I play, I always try to be really aggressive and come into the net as much as possible but off of the right balls, not just any ball,” said Rosca.

“I think today, I did that pretty well. I think overall shot selection made the difference. I think I have played more matches than she has. I know what shots to hit in what moments and to prevent hitting some silly shots in important moments in the match.”

For PHS senior Rory Lewis, taking the crown at third singles with 6-3, 6-2 win over Amanda Binder of WW/P-N was a moment to savor.

“It is a great experience,” said Lewis, who won the MCT first doubles crown with Maddie Cahill-Sanidas as a sophomore but had never taken a singles title at the county competition. “It is great for the team; it is a good way to go out as a senior.”

Lewis’ game has come a long way over the last four years. “I think mentally I am steadier on the court,” said Lewis.

“Last year if I had played this match I might not have won. It was my first year at singles and I had to step it up. It was a new experience for me. I didn’t have someone on the court the way you do with doubles, cheering you on and pumping you up. It is all on you. This year the mental game is better for me. My serve has gotten better, I can place it in the corners and it goes in with pace. I think my groundstrokes have gotten stronger.”

As one of the three senior tri-captains on the squad along with Zhenia Dementyeva and Katelyn Hojelbane, the experience of winning the team title had Lewis pumped up.

“It means a lot because every year it seems like we have been one step closer,” said Lewis.

“I remember sophomore year, we were third. Last year, we were second. To go out as a senior and get the Mercer County title as a team is just great. It has been a goal for the team for a long time and it is great to finally see that come to fruition. There are three seniors and we are really close. We have all played together for a while on varsity and we all know each other well.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert wanted to see
Lewis and her classmates go out on top.

“The girls worked really, really hard this year,” said a smiling Hibbert, who got good work throughout her lineup as Hojelbane took fourth at second singles while the first doubles pair of Dementyeva and Nikhita Salgame placed second as did the second doubles team of Elise Gerdes and Gillian Samios.

“Having three seniors in our lineup who have been part of the lineup for a long time, we were really hoping that this would be the year we could do it for them. We have been really close the last couple of years but we have always had an injury or a lineup switch or a sickness or something that threw us right before the tournament. We just haven’t been quite able to get it done.”

In Hibbert’s view, the team’s combination of depth and chemistry proved to be the winning formula.

“Allison [Hubert] was the only one who graduated from last year’s team so it is a really solid core coming back,” noted Hibbert.

“They have been on the team together for a long time now. They have good chemistry. They enjoy doing team bonding and just spending time together. I think the thought was definitely there that we could do it but no one wanted to get too overconfident and look too far ahead because we know the competition is very tough. There are a lot of good schools here. We got new uniforms this year and we joked that these are going to be lucky uniforms and carry us to the county tournament title.”

There was no luck involved with the singles titles earned by Rosca and Lewis.

“I was really pleased with the way Chris stepped up and took control early and was able to put the pressure on Brianna,” said Hibbert, whose team will be going after another title as it is seeded first in the Central Jersey Group 3 sectional which gets underway this week with the final slated for October 14.

“From there she was able to stay tough and close it out. Rory is such a hard worker. She will be the first one on the court, she will serve 100 buckets of balls until her shoulder is ready to fall off. She will continue working and working until she achieves what she wants. Especially as a senior, she has had a great run for us and it is really nice for her to win a county title.”

Lewis, for her part, believes that the team’s closeness on and off the court helps set it apart.

“We all get along so well, we all really support each other and cheer each other on, no matter what,” said Lewis. “It is not just that we all play tennis, it is more than that. We are friends, it is great.”