HOLMDEL – Not many programs are able to graduate a senior class that won the Shore Conference Tournament and had a chance to win the Tournament of Champions all four years.
Such was the case for the Holmdel girls tennis program.
“I told them after we lost to Millburn they have to realize as disappointing as it was in the moment, there’s not many teams in any sport that get to win group championships four years in a row and get to this point four times,” Holmdel head coach Chuck Chelednik said. “It was also the first team in school history, in any sport, to win four group championships, so it’s a pretty big deal and it’s a testament to these seniors.”
Holmdel has won the Shore Conference each year since 2014 and has raised expectations with their annual success. But Chelednik felt the team might take a step back this season after graduating key seniors after last season.
The team responded by going 16-0 in Central Group II and getting right back to where they were each of the last three seasons.
“We graduated three starters the year before, but we’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of depth these last few years,” Chelednik said. “We were bringing a core back, and we had a lot of them step up this year. It was a little bit of a surprise getting back to where we did, because last year’s two and three moved up to one and two and we had a lot of girls move up and get better, which is a testament to them.
“We have a lot of depth and that’s a testament to some of our upperclassmen sticking it out and staying with the program and them getting their chance to play. Alice Lai was one of the seniors on the team this year and was a starter for the first time, even though she was good enough to start on many other teams in the Shore Conference the previous three years. She got her time this year as a senior and made it count. The number of players and the depth has really been the key to our success.”
The team is graduating eight seniors this year, including four starters. Two of them, Alexandra Wojciak and Rita Vought, have been starters all four years, and have been “the rock of our success,” as Chelednik put it.
In tennis, doubles is what matters most in competitive matches. Chelednik noted most top teams will have strong singles players, but the game will usually come down to who has the advantage in doubles, as it has the past two years for Holmdel against Millburn in the Tournament of Champions final.
“Against Millburn last year, we lost, 3-2, and it came down to doubles,” Chelednik said. “We lost a close second-doubles match and we lost first-doubles where we were and lost in the third set. Almost every year with Millburn in the state finals, it’s always come down to doubles and it did again this year. We lost, 4-1. We did get a singles point, so we needed two doubles points and neither one came through, but they have crazy talent and depth, too.”
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