As the Dwight Englewood girls tennis team pulled away from last year’s Bergen County Tournament, the Bulldogs felt like something was missing.That something was the championship trophy, which the team had won the previous four years before ceding it to Ramsey.
“As one of the team captains, I knew we had to come back and win it this year,” Dwight Englewood senior Caroline Yaffa said. “Our motto this season has been “Work hard and play hard” and that’s what we did.”
On Sunday, the Bulldogs got that winning feeling and the trophy back as they captured the small schools championship. Yaffa joined with classmate and fellow captain Gabby Lo Bue to win the first doubles title, taking out Mahwah’s Emily Perrini and Lily Wong, 6-1 and 6-1.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” Lo Bue said of her match. “Our opponents were very, very strong and they made us work for it.”
Dwight Englewood took home trophies on two other courts as well. Jessie Law topped Park Ridge’s Christine Richiez in first singles (6-1 and 6-1) while the second doubles pair of Grace Maline and Alexa Taflinsky won a thriller from Mahwah’s Olivia Zhang and Raeva Sikka, 6-3, 2-6 and 6-2.
After not playing as an underclassman, Law joined up this fall and is thrilled she did.
“My first two years I was more involved in USTA,” Law said. “I was really committed to my (club) coach (in Edison) and I couldn’t be missing practices every day.
“Junior year is so much busier with the SATs and stuff like that, so I knew I wasn’t going to get down there as much. I saw the other girls having a lot of fun on the team and I thought it’d be a good experience. I was like, ‘Why not?’ ”
While Law enjoyed her latest victory, Park Ridge’s Richiez was sullen after suffering her second straight defeat in the first-singles finals. After largely beating herself in last year’s match against Ramsey’s Nina McAllan, Richiez admitted to being up against a superior opponent this time around.
“I felt like I was on my “A” game this whole tournament,” Richiez said. “So when I started out really bad today, I think my negative emotions kind of snowballed.
“Everyone says I hit the ball really hard … I think I’ve got that part of the game down. Now I just have to work on the mental part. I didn’t play my best but there’s always next year.”
One player Richiez could see in next year’s tournament is Rutherford’s Nyakiri Kanefu — the newly-crowned second singles champion — who’ll likely succeed her older sister Nyabwika in the team’s top spot next year.
On Sunday, Nyakiriri Kanefu beat Ramsey’s Nicole Choi in the finals, 6-0 and 6-1, and became Rutherford’s first-ever county champion.
“After I finished the semifinals, I asked my coach (Dave Padilla),” Kanefu said. “I was wondering if I’d be Rutherford’s first champion if I won. When he said yes I was like, ‘Oh wow!
“I was a little nervous but it gave me even more reason to work hard out there.”
In third singles, Leonia’s Maya Naik worked hard enough to beat Glen Rock’s Carly Erani, 6-4 and 6-1. Naik, who lost in last year’s county second doubles final, dropped in her team’s lineup this season after suffering a wrist injury, but agreed it was “a blessing in disguise.”
“It was difficult for me after the injury because I really wanted to be out there on the court … I’m kind of a go-getter,” Naik said. “Fortunately it healed up and I was able to get my game back.
“I don’t think this has hit me yet,” she added. “I just went out there like it was any other match and did my thing.”
Bergen County Girls Tennis Tournament
SMALL SCHOOLS
Team scores: 1. Dwight Englewood 16, 2. Glen Rock and Ramsey 8, 4. Leonia, Mahwah and Pascack Hills 7, 7. Park Ridge, Saddle River Day and Rutherford 6, 10. Cresskill 2, 11. New Milford and Emerson 1, 13. Waldwick, Palisades Park and Westwood 0.
1st singles:
Semifinals: Jessie Law (Dwight Englewood) d. Nyabwija Kanefu (Rutherford) 6-2, 6-1; Christine Richiez (Park Ridge) d. Chloe Wu (Saddle River Day), 6-3, 6-2.
Finals: Law d. Richiez 6-1, 6-1.
2nd singles:
Semifinals: Nyakiriri Kanefu (Rutherford) d. Franki Gallo (Dwight Englewood) 6-1, 6-1; Nicole Choi (Ramsey) d. Lindsay Fleischman (Pascack Hills) 6-3, 6-1.
Finals: Kanefu d. Choi 6-0, 6-1
3rd singles:
Semifinals: Maya Naik (Leonia) d. Izzie Benedict (Pascack Hills) 6-1, 6-1; Carly Erani (Glen Rock) d. Sheridan Goldstein (Dwight Englewood) 6-3, 7-5.
Finals: Naik d. Erani 6-4, 6-1
1st doubles:
Semifinals: Caroline Yaffa/Gabby Lo Bue (Dwight Englewood) d. Lily Traub/Ria Sah (Pascack Hills) 6-4, 6-2; Emily Perrini/Lily Wong (Mahwah) d. Nora Crowley/Rebecca Fogelson (Ramsey).
Finals: Yaffa/Lo Bue d. Perrini/Wong 6-1, 6-1
2nd doubles:
Semifinals: Grace Maline/Alexa Taflinsky (Dwight Englewood) d. Rachel Khusid/Puja Parikh (Glen Rock) 6-3, 6-3; Olivia Zhang/Raeva Sikka (Mahwah) d. Martina Franck/Emma Kunz (Ramsey) 6-4, 6-2.
Finals: Maline/Taflinsky d. Zhang/Sikka 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
