Lady Jags facing tough first week of competition

When first-year Jackson High School girls’ tennis coach Chris Opdyke looked at the 2002 schedule, he knew the Lady Jaguars would be tested in the opening week.

Jackson squared off against Marlboro in the season opener Monday and fell, 5-0. The Jags were scheduled to follow with matches against Toms River North yesterday and Southern Regional tomorrow.

Despite hosting all three matches, Opdyke realized Jackson’s first week of play would be one of its most difficult.

"This is a very competitive conference that we play in," Opdyke said. "There are a lot of good teams out there. It is going to be a tough first week. We’ll have a good idea of how competitive we are going to be in conference by the end of it."

In Monday’s season-opening setback against Marlboro, the Jags failed to win a set.

Opdyke cited the mettle of Jackson’s no. 2 doubles team of senior Jen Ostrowski and junior Sara Lucas. The duo dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision against Marlboro’s Lauren Frishman and Catherine Betricio.

"They hung in there and played a nice match," Opdyke said.

Jackson has a number of players returning from last year’s team. Senior Sam Hendrix is playing No. 1 singles. Junior Sue Wiggins and sophomore Alyssa Recht are the team’s No. 2 and no. 3 singles players, respectively.

Seniors Laura Cava and Diana Frady combine to form Jackson’s no. 1 doubles squad.

In addition, senior Mary Yambao and sophomore Danielle Pinol are expected to see playing time.

"The kids have been working really hard in practice," Opdyke said. "I think the strength of our team is in singles. We have a couple of accomplished players. We feel confident that all the girls can win on any given day."

— Mike White