After spending three seasons in Central Jersey playoffs, Moorestown concluded its run in the 2018 South Jersey Group III tournament with a 4–1 win over Mainland Regional High School in the sectional final.
From 1989 to 2015, sectional titles were an annual occurrence for Moorestown High School girls tennis.
However, after falling short of winning their section the last two seasons, the Quakers entered the 2018 season with something they hadn’t had in a long time: a roster consisting mostly of players who hadn’t been with the program during a championship season.
On Tuesday, Moorestown finally got to lift a trophy once again as the Quakers defeated Mainland Regional High School, 4–1, to win the South Jersey Group III championship.
“Totally, it feels good. I missed it,” Moorestown head coach Steve Dickerson said with a laugh.
“We lost some amazing players, so it’s great that we got to build up this team and finally win,” junior Julia McBride said.
Moorestown competed in a different section this year. The past three seasons, the Quakers were placed in the Central Jersey Group III bracket. The last two years, the Quakers were unable to get past a tough Hightstown High School team that went a combined 38–3 in 2016 and 2017. This year, Moorestown was moved back to South Jersey Group III and was the top seed in the playoffs.
“We were in a very very good, competitive division,” senior Eliza Broder said of the team’s past placement in Central Jersey. “I’m not saying we’re not this year, but it’s definitely easier for us to move along.”
Dickerson believes this year’s team was one of the top in the state regardless of what section they were placed in. He saw immense improvement throughout the course of the year and feels his team played with more confidence as the season progressed.
“At the beginning of the season, I thought we’d be pretty good, maybe not as good as last year,” Dickerson said. “But I really feel the girls took to heart some of the things I was teaching them and they showed steady progress along the way.”
Moorestown won its title with a starting lineup consisting mostly of juniors. Five of the team’s seven starters this year were 11th graders. Broder was the only senior in the Quakers’ regular lineup.
“It’s been amazing to have the group of juniors we have on the team,” McBride said. “We’re all so close.”
“We play together a lot outside of the season,” junior Emma Regovich said. “Over the summer, everyone got to know each other.”
Moorestown went unbeaten in conference play during the regular season. They lost just three matches overall, with only their only loss against a South Jersey opponent coming against Moorestown Friends on Sept. 16. The team also lost to one of North Jersey’s top teams, Westfield High School and a tough Central Jersey team in Lawrenceville School. The players said those matches helped prepared Moorestown for the postseason.
“We play a lot of teams we don’t normally play that give us good competition and show us how good we can do as a team,” Broder said.
The returning players don’t believe 2018’s sectional title will be a one-time event. With a slew of players coming back next year, Moorestown believes they will be even better 2019.
“Even the group that didn’t make the starting lineup, they’re pretty strong,” Dickerson said. “I think for the next several years, we’ll be in the running.”
“It would be amazing if we could continue this,” McBride said.
