Last Tuesday’s South Jersey Group IV championship between Cherry Hill East and Lenape was a grudge match in many ways.
It was the third straight year the two teams faced off for the title. In 2013, Cherry Hill East won, 3–2. In 2014, Lenape returned the favor with a 3–2 win of its own.
In 2015, it was Cherry Hill East that was able to snatch the championship back from Lenape.
The Cougars won their second South Jersey Group IV championship in three years, edging Lenape, 3–2, to win the sectional.
The victory was due in part to the efforts of Cherry Hill East’s senior class, which wanted to make its last playoff run one to remember.
“We just stepped up and played very well today,” senior third singles player Rachel Pham said.
Avenging last season’s heartbreaking championship match loss to Lenape was a priority for Cherry Hill East since the first practice of the summer. Senior captain Gabrielle Zimmerman said the team was much stronger mentally this season than it had been in the past. She believes the team has been better at focusing on its matches in 2015.
“(Head coach Mary Jewett) would have us visualize what was on the court,” Zimmerman said.
Having experienced a championship atmosphere in the past helped Cherry Hill East drastically. Pham said playing Lenape in a high-leverage match is different than when the teams battle in the regular season.
“It feels very official,” she said. “It’s different every time.”
Cherry Hill East’s first doubles team won the championship-clinching third point for the Cougars. Senior Lauren Romisher and junior Natalie Yanosov won a tight 6–4, 6–3 match over Lenape’s Gabrielle Shvartsman and Alexis Cao. Romisher and Yanosov have been key to the Cougars’ success in 2015, losing just two regular season matches and earning a trip to the NJSIAA doubles tournament.
Romisher said the chemistry between herself and Yanosov was the biggest reason they were so successful this season.
“We clicked automatically,” Romisher said. “We knew from the start we were a really good pair.”
Cherry Hill East also received a contribution from an unexpected senior. Cassidy Rosen-Swell, filling in for injured junior Sarah Jang, played second doubles with sophomore Rebekah Colocot. The pairing lost their match, but Jewett said Rosen-Swell, who had played sparingly this season, stepped up in the biggest match of the season.
“She played really well,” Jewett said, hugging Rosen-Swell in the process.
Jewett was very emotional as the Cougars celebrated their championship last week. She understood how heartbreaking last year’s loss in the finals was for many of the players. She was happy to see the team bounce back this season.
“It means a lot,” Jewett said. “We have a lot of really great seniors. They deserved to do that.”
Zimmerman was the last player on the court for Cherry Hill East in 2014 when she lost in the deciding fifth match of the championship. She said the loss was a sour memory she really wanted to forget.
Last Tuesday, she was finally able to replace it with the happy memory of winning a championship as the team’s senior captain.
“This is awesome, especially because it’s our senior year,” she said.
