NORTH JERSEY INTERSCHOLASTIC CONFERENCE SEASON REVIEW
GIRLS TENNIS 2024
Player of the Year: Sylvie Yao, Dwight-Englewood
The everyday lineup changed quite a bit for Dwight-Englewood this season, and Yao missed her fair share of matches — most of them, in fact — but you can’t deny that when she was out there, she was dominant.
Yao only lost one time in dual matches this season to state singles tournament runner-up, Anika Paul, and she beat the likes of Priscilla Chow, Anvita Shankar and Kylee Hung.
Yao also won the first singles title at the Bergen County Tournament over Holy Angels’ Jaime Carlin, and she defeated Phoebe Devine in the semifinals as well.
The sophomore picked up late in the year, too, as she advanced to the quarterfinals of the state singles tournament after getting past Michelle Lee, Isabella Cardinal, Alana Sturgis and Nicolette Baksay.
Team of the Year: Saddle River Day
There were many options to choose from for this spot, but Saddle River Day gets the nod.
Saddle River Day was boosted up this year by the addition of Kylee Hung, a transfer from Ridgewood, who went on to win the first singles title at the Bergen County Fall Invitational.
In fact, SRD won all five flights at the tournament as Rachel Magnus (second singles), Jackie Sidler (third singles), Olivia Fujita/Alison Rosenson (first doubles) and Emma Yelsky/Eva Burgis (second doubles) all came out on top at their respective flights, too.
For the season, Saddle River Day went 13-2 including 10-0 in the Patriot division, and it reached the Non-Public, North sectional final where it lost to No. 1-ranked Pingry.
With just one senior starter (Sidler) graduating, SRD can look to take the next step next season.
Final NJIC Rankings
1-Dwight-Englewood (15-5)
2-Glen Rock (22-2)
3-Saddle River Day (13-2)
4-Cresskill (13-4)
5-Leonia (14-7)
6-Pompton Lakes (15-5)
7-Waldwick (12-6)
8-Park Ridge (7-9)
9-Harrison (13-5)
10-Rutherford (11-4)