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Hun Girls' Tennis Guts it Out In Earning MCT Three-Peat
By Bill Alden
Although the Hun School girls' tennis team came into last week's Mercer County Girls' Tennis tournament as the two-time defending champion, the Raiders knew they couldn't take anything for granted.
With Princeton Day School, WW/P-N, and WW/P-S all performing well on the first day of action at the MCT, Hun's players entered Wednesday's final day of competition with plenty of butterflies in their stomachs.
Showing the qualities that have set the team apart from its competitors in recent seasons, the Raiders earned their three-peat as they scored 32 points to edge PDS (24), and WW/P-N and WW/P-S (16 each).
Individually, Hun's top performers were Lucy DiPastina, who breezed past Pennington's Nicole Bredorial 6-2-6-1 to win the county title at third singles, and the second doubles team of Catie Druker and Alex Connell, who took a straight-set win over the PDS team of Hilary Cook/Nitzan Sternberg, to win the title in their flight.
Other standouts for Hun included Angela DiPastina, who took second in first singles, Erica Wood, the third place finisher in second singles, and the team of Ann Wright/Gwen Birnkrant, who ended up third in first doubles.
"We were anticipating that it was going to be tough and it lived up to our expectations," said Hun head coach Joan Nuse as she reflected on the team's triumph.
"We knew the semis would have a big impact on how it turned out and the kids were nervous. We weren't sure how things were going to turn out. I wasn't in a position to say 'don't worry, you're fine.'"
Nuse was impressed by how her players hung in there even after some struggles in the semis. "I was happy with how they did it for each other," added Nuse. "The two groups who lost in the semis fought hard to come in third and get that point for the team. It would've been easy for them to give in to their disappointment."
The biggest revelation for Nuse was the play of her second doubles team of Druker, a freshman, and Connell, a sophomore, who are both newcomers to the varsity with Connell having performed on Hun's JV squad in 2002.
"They've only been playing together for a few weeks," explained Nuse, who is in her 17th year coaching the Raiders. "I'm really pleased with how they played, that was definitely the best they have played all season."
The triumph of DiPastina at third singles, on the other hand, came as no surprise to Nuse. "Lucy has been an amazing player the last two years," said Nuse.
"She's been working hard to keep her focus and she really had to do that because the players she faced in the semis and the final were really steady. She really hung tough."
Hun collectively showed a lot of toughness as it had to take a different route to win the title. Last year, the Raiders won all five flights as they breezed to the title, while in 2001 they made the finals in all five flights but took home no individual crowns.
"We were definitely pushed, nothing was certain," acknowledged Nuse, whose team is 4-1 after beating Lawrenceville last Saturday and will play at Rutgers Prep on October 8 before hosting PDS on October 10 and Blair on October 11. "It took more for the girls to pull it out and in that way it means more to us. It's the first time Hun has won three straight MCT titles. The kids were pysched, it is a big accomplishment."
Hun is looking to accomplish more later this month as it competes
in the state prep tournament. "We're hoping to do something
in the states," added Nuse, whose squad took second in
the state Prep A competition last fall. "We've never won
the state Prep A title, we're looking to do the best we can."
