Following a 2-0 start to the 2015 season, the girl’s tennis team took to the court against Holy Cross at Wood Park on a sunny and hot Wednesday afternoon. The Pirates were looking for a third straight victory to begin the season, but Holy Cross (3-0) had different plans as the Lancers came away with a 4-1 victory that dropped the Pirates to 2-1 on the young season.
The lone victory of the day came from second singles player Tori Robinson, who took down Sophie Czerniecki 6-2 and 6-2, but head coach Matt Perekupka was happy with the effort his girls gave today.
“Their number one, Brooke Caruso, is well known in the area for being a really tough, top player. I thought our first-time, first singles Jenna Cuccinota did a nice job battling against her. She gave her all she could handle for at least the first set. I was very proud of that. Our second singles, Tori Robinson, played a really nice match and beat a really tough opponent.”
Perekupka was happy with the effort he saw top to bottom today.
“Our third singles (Rebekah Adams) battled leg cramps all day and battled to play really well. Our first doubles (Lauren Gallo/Emma Trzaska), they’re new to varsity and this was only their third varsity match, and I think they played a really good first doubles team well. Our second doubles (Danicka Moore/Maddie Figiel) lost the first set and took it to a third set, which is always a good sign. We had a lot of positives of each match and hopefully they carry forward.”
The first two wins of the season for Cinnaminson, and Holy Cross, came against the same opponents in Burlington City and Trenton Catholic.
“Today was the first time we really got to see what we have,” Perekupka said. “Trenton Catholic and Burlington City, which are competition we expect to win. This is the first test we had where we really got to see what we have as a team.”
“Holy Cross, they’re a class program. Their coaches are great guys and they have a great set of girls. What we saw today, we know what we need to work on. Hopefully we come out and put those things into play against a really tough Moorestown opponent and get our momentum back for Pemberton and New Egypt on Friday and Monday.”
With Moorestown now on the schedule for Thursday following an earlier rainout, Perekupka is excited for his girls to play tough competition.
“They (Holy Cross) always let us know where we are as a team and Moorestown let’s us know where we want to be as a team eventually.”
Perekupka loves that the girls get to play in consecutive matches this week because they can work on what needs to be worked on more so than during practice.
“After you have a couple of those matches, then you see what you need to work on because you don’t get a good gauge playing in practice hitting the ball back and forth to each other. In a match, where you’re trying to control points and do things you don’t always have to do, you really see what kind of stuff you have to work on for the future.”
The Pirates travel to Moorestown on Thursday, September 17 at 3:45pm to take on the Quakers.
