On October 15th, 2024 the girls’ varsity tennis team won the state sectional title against Mendham by winning 4-1. The girls’ tennis team are back-to-back state sectional champions, also winning in the 2023 season against Mendham. The girls tennis team ended the season with a record of 13-4 and 9-1 in the Skyland Conference.
They are also divisional champions, being number one in the Raritan Valley Conference. The girls’ sectional win allowed them to continue their season and head to Group State semi-final game on October 17th at Mercer County Park. The girls went on to lose against Holmdel 3.5-1.5.
The team is composed of seven varsity players and twenty junior varsity players. Considering how small the team is, Claire Taylor ‘25, who plays Second Doubles on Varsity and who has been a varsity stand-in since her Freshman Year, feels that “introducing new girls to the sport has been a vital addition for the team. Some girls have joined this team without even playing tennis before and they really are beneficial for us”.
As head coach Elizabeth St. Ours says, “This team was special because we had new varsity players step up. Only 1 player graduated last year, but due to various circumstances, we ended up with some new faces playing at the varsity level”. Everyone who stepped up to the varsity role helped the team reach success this season. Though they lost their States game Coach St Ours could not be more proud.
From coaching some of these girls since freshman year she shares that “is such a great feeling to win back-to-back State Sectional Championships. Facing Mendham again in the finals boosted our confidence. Their lineup was similar to last year’s and we scrimmaged them in the preseason. We knew we were capable of beating them, we just had to come prepared to play our game.”
Olivia Rosenthal, a captain this past season for the girls’ Bernards tennis team, has been on the team since freshman year. Olivia shares that from Freshman year to senior year “we have had multiple different coaches that have coached us throughout the years. Especially these past 2 years our coaches helped us get to states.” Olivia also shares that “ freshman year to senior year I have gained more confidence in my ability to perform under pressure has improved” which helped her and her team advance in states. From winning the state sectional last year to this year Olivia shares that “the team has all advanced immensely, everyone has a ground stroke hit this year, we’ve all improved throughout the season and years together. We have more confidence this year going into states from winning states last year.”
The other captain, Tiffany Zhang, feels honored that she was able to lead such a great team towards amazing accomplishments this year. Considering how small the team is they are able to maintain tight relationships. Because of how many JV players there are, the varsity team can form a close connection with them. Captain Tiffany Zhang explains, “The season overall went by fast, but the team had a really strong bond and I had fun playing among my teammates.”
The girls closed out this season with high spirits and fun memories. This group, many of the seniors being part of varsity last year, left their mark on Bernardsville Tennis history.
