By Jeff Appelblatt
When the high school tennis season began in April, Woodbridge High School head coach Daniel Mortensen knew things would be a work in progress.
“The whole season’s been difficult on the whole team,” the coach said following a few rainouts. “Last year, the team was deeper. It’s just kind of been a struggle.”
But even before Woodbridge found the win column, first singles player Mehul Jain gave his coach and teammates something to smile about: he reached the quarterfinals of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Championships Apr. 20.
“He’s a very good player,” Mortensen said about the junior. “He won a few matches to get [to the quarterfinals].”
Maybe it was momentum from that day or the matchup, but Woodbridge pulled out its first victory less than a week later against Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen, 3-2. It was third singles player Niyam Shah and the doubles duo of Miles George and Vishal Shah that got the Barrons in position to win.
Then, when the matchup was tied at two apiece, Mortensen sent out his second doubles team. St. Joe’s had no pair to face it and was forced to forfeit the match. As a result, Woodbridge finished off St. Joe’s, 3-2.
“They didn’t have a second doubles team,” Mortensen said. “Everyone [on our team] could kind of relax. Everyone just wanted that first win.”
Avoiding a season with only losses was a relief for everyone. But following the win, Mortensen has continued to make sure his players know the competition isn’t only about victories.
“I tell them it’s not just about the result,” the coach said. “I give them individual goals. I give them little goals that hopefully they could reach.”
And as the season nears an end, Mortensen is trying to prepare for beyond this season.
“The main goal is trying to set everyone up with training outside the school,” he said. “Hopefully, they’re not just putting the racquets away until next year.”
No matter what, Woodbridge’s racquets can’t be forgotten about yet. The team has at least a handful of matches left on its schedule. Added to it, Mortensen expects each of the rainouts to be made up.
“We’ve had a bunch rained out this year,” Mortensen said May 7. “We had two or three this week alone. They were against teams in our division. I’m sure those teams need [to play] the matches.”
If the weather cooperated, the Barrons (1-11) faced Highland Park High School (9-3) May 9 and South River High School (1-12) May 10. Woodbridge is also slated to play at New Brunswick High School (9-6) at 4 p.m. May 11, in Woodbridge at 4 p.m. May 13 against Monroe Township High School (10-2) and May 16 when it has a rematch with St. Joe’s.
