On Oct. 17., the West Essex Varsity Girls Tennis Team beat Bernards High School 4-1 to earn the North 2/Group 2 state sectional championship. With this win, the team has now won 3 consecutive state sectional final wins.

At West Essex, successful sports such as football or field hockey have taken most of the spotlight from tennis. Despite flying under the radar, the girls team has maintained a steady work ethic for years, producing outstanding results.

“I doubt that many students or faculty know that our girls tennis teams have won six state sectional titles over the last eight years,” head coach Ms. Bruchac said.

What might be even more impressive is the fact that the team competes in the top tier of the Super Essex conference, which puts the Knights against elite teams such as Millburn, Newark Academy, Livingston and Montclair Kimberley. But playing at this high-level means that the team was likely to encounter several unexpected obstacles throughout the season. A loss to the lower-ranked Columbia early in the season became a teachable moment for the team.

“When we lose to teams like Newark Academy or Millburn it is expected since they are top in the state,” junior singles player Sadye Boshak said. “We all just go out and try our hardest. However, it is different when we lose to a team like Columbia. This is a team that when we look back at the match, we believe we could have won.”

Having won the sectionals the year prior, the girls team initially found it difficult to find the motivation to succeed this time around, especially against average teams. On the other hand, this loss was the turning point in the season for the Knights.

“After losing this match that we did not expect to lose, I believe it lit a fire under us and made us work harder in practice and be more determined to win going forward,” Boshak said.

Many players worked through their routine to improve themselves individually, becoming more focused on the goal at hand: winning their third straight sectional title.

“Our practice routine usually starts with mini tennis,” sophomore starter Amy Lee said, “and then we move back to the baseline to do crosscourt and down the line shots, then we do volleys and serves.”

Team play was also a factor in measuring the future of the team’s success. The doubles players not only had to account for themselves, but also their partner’s improvements. Simulating in-game matches about six days per week translated into success for the entire team, but especially for doubles partners Jenn and Caroline Ben Nathan. They won their match against MKA despite being considered longshots. These types of wins counteracted the disappointing losses to teams like Columbia, giving the team a mental boost.

“Our communication skills and confidence as a team has improved,” Ben Nathan said.

When it was tournament time, there was no looking back. The Knights had 5 of 7 starters returning from the year prior, bringing the talent and experience needed to make noise in the tournament. On their journey to win the title, they beat Madison (4-1), Parsippany Hills (4-1) and Bernards (4-1) in the final.

“Winning sectionals is confirmation that our hard work all season paid off,” senior captain Julia A. Schwartz said.

Coach Bruchac hopes her team will become victorious at the next level in state play. This year, they fell short of winning the total group championship after being defeated by Haddonfield 3-0. Winning in this challenging environment takes a lot, but the euphoria from their impressive sectional win has spread optimism throughout the team.