Jeff Holman is plenty happy.
Between being head coach to Haddonfield Memorial High School’s undefeated varsity tennis champs and his induction into the New Jersey High School Hall of Fame set for early next month, Holman sure is having a good school year.
But talk to him for a few moments and he’ll soon direct the attention to his team of stars.
The tennis season came to an end with a triumphant win against Millburn in the Tournament of Champions in late October.
The team never lost a game, ending with a 32–0 record.
Tennis has a shortened season compared to other fall sports, Holman said, due to the ending of Daylight Savings Time.
“Once the weather gets colder in October,” the coach since 1976 said, “It’s difficult to finish a match in those conditions.”
Dedication, concentration and a good work ethic are all key ingredients to winning matches. Traits, he said, that his team’s players had.
Taylor Ng, in particular, had a strong part in making the last four years one of the greatest eras in Haddonfield tennis history, he said.
In her freshman year, the team went undefeated. In Ng’s sophomore and junior years, the team only lost one match each season.
All of which culminated in her senior year with another 32–0 season.
“Our team record has been 123 wins and 2 losses (over four years),” which, Holman said, is certainly a difficult feat to match.
Ng’s consistency in playing the game throughout her life at a high level, great reflexes and understanding of the strategy have contributed to her success, said Holman.
“She’s a phenomenal athlete,” he said. “She’s exceptionally quick.”
Plus, he added, “She’s had some outstanding private coaching that has unquestionably taken her game to a higher level.”
Ng will attend Dartmouth College next year.
Teammates Amanda Lanciano and Victoria Martinez, second and third singles players, also were undefeated in team matches, making for a dominant season.
The 2013 season will see the loss of both Ng and senior Sylvia Strauss, though five of the top seven players will be back on the courts, giving the team another “solid nucleus,” Holman said.
Both doubles teams had great achievements during the season as well, he said.
Arpie Senopoulos and Erica Pascocello won the New Jersey Doubles Championship, while Chelsea Brown, a freshman, and Strauss were undefeated against all South Jersey teams.
Winning the Tournament of Champions, in any sport, he said, is tough.
This year’s win marked the third title in the history of Haddonfield’s tennis program, he said.
“Haddonfield’s had a very long and distinguished history athletically,” he said, but this particular achievement speaks highly of the team.
How does one excel at the sport?
“Like any other sport, tennis rewards players that have a great work ethic, that are dedicated to the sport throughout the year and not just during the high school season,” Holman said. “A player also has to have great powers of concentration.”
A tennis match can last up to three hours, he said, and if a player is in a singles match, there is no one else to rely on during that time, or if she is playing a doubles match, there’s just one other person as back up.
Being mentally strong, therefore, is essential.
In his time as a coach, he said, it has always been gratifying to him when his players develop a sense of camaraderie on the court.
“It’s rewarding when a team can actually come together as a unified group and put aside the tension that sometimes arises when they’re playing each other for positions,” he said.
As a team, he said, Aristotle’s philosophy of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts comes to life when the players derive strength from each other.
That, in turn, makes them play at a higher level.
With such a short season, intensity heightens.
Almost every weekend, there’s a tournament in addition to team matches during the weeks, he said.
Players must balance their lives, though that’s generally not an issue in tennis, said Holman.
“They (Players) tend to be very hardworking and disciplined in all aspects of their lives,” he said. “They tend to be great students. They often tend to be involved in other activities besides tennis.”
Many girls practice throughout the year in preparation for the next season.
The goal?
Reaching the “highest level possible,” said Holman.
