Tennis: Phillipsburg Shuts Out Bound Brook, Team Confidence Builds

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ - Phillipsburg High School swept all 10 matches in a 5-0 shutout of Bound Brook in a Skyland Conference Valley Division girls tennis match on Tuesday at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex.

P’burg (5-4 overall, 5-1 division) has now won three straight matches, the last two by shoutout, and are over .500 after nine matches of the season for the first time, excluding the shorted 2020 season, in a long time.

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“Very excited,” Phillipsburg long-time coach Alex Ostrowski said. “I like the way we match up the rest of the season. If we take Watchung Hills out, which we should have the first time we played before losing 3-2, we have a shot at splitting the division with them. Which would be great. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”

The Stateliners have seven regular season matches left including a trip to Watchung Hills on Oct. 1

P’burg’s No. 1 singles player, sophomore Alessandra Tolentino, had her forehand smash going in her victory.

“My forehand shots were on today and I had good placement,” said Tolentino, who has won three straight matches. “That’s my best shot and I had a lot of chances with them. Everyone on the team is so nice. We’re very supportive of one another. My overheads need some work and also corner shots in general. Overall, I was happy with how I played.”

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Seniors Ella Burke and Arunima Dhammi both improved to 5-4 on the season at No. 2 and No. 3 singles respectively.

Ostrowski calls Burke a backboard. “She hits everything back,” he said. “If you do that you win a lot of points.”

“I’m not the most aggressive player and I don’t hit the hardest shots mostly but I’m pretty consistent getting the ball back to the other side,” said Burke, a three-year starter. “My serves were not the best today but my ground strokes were working very well. My backhand is my most comfortable shot. I’m more powerful on my backhand. I’m a senior so I’m just trying to have a fun time. And this is my best record in three years so it’s going really well.”

“The team as a whole got a lot more confident this season,” Dhammi said. “A big help was a lot of our varsity positions were filled coming into the season. And we’ve bonded well the last two seasons. And our conditioning over the summer has helped a lot.”

First doubles partners, senior Mia Dy and junior Julie Kontoh, improved to a team-best 6-3 on the season by coming back from a 5-4 deficit in the second set to win 7-5. Dy hit a pair of backhand winners before she closed out the first set with another one down the line.”

Dy and Kontoh are coming off a good year at No. 2 doubles last season and have carried it over to this year.

“We’re successful because we try to understand each other,” Dy said. “We communicate the best we can on the court. We give each other tips and neither one of us gets offended by it. We take it into consideration and move on. I can’t lie. I was down when we fell behind in the second set but with Julie’s encouragement we came back.”

“Mia is really aggressive at the net and I’m aggressive at the baseline so we’re a really good combo,” said Kontoh, whose match was the last one of the day. “And it certainly helps playing together all of last season. We just told each other to keep going when we fell behind. And it was nice to see the team cheering us on after they were done.”

Second doubles partners, senior Marissa Kozak and junior Jessica Bonilla also won for the third straight match.

“Jess and I are so compatible,” said Kozak, in her first season playing tennis. “The progress we’ve made is amazing from the start of the season up until now.”

Kozak was a field hockey player before this season.

“I wanted to try something new so I went out for tennis,” said Kozak, who was on the top of her serving game in the match. “I’m so happy I did and I’m so grateful to my team. They’ve been so welcoming to me since the start.”

“We had some good hits today,” Bonilla said. “We’re definitely getting used to playing with each other. We’ve improved so much as a team and I really like that.”

Phillipsburg 5, Bound Brook 0

First singles – Alessandra Tolentino, P, def. Liz Priego 6-0 6-1

Second singles – Ella Burke, P, def. Heidi Martinez 6-1, 6-0

Third singles – Arunima Dhammi, def. 6-1 6-1

First doubles – Julie Kontoh and Mia Dy, P, def. Lauren Polakiewicz and Kathy Reyes 6-2, 7-5

Second doubles – Marissa Kozak and Jessica Bonilla, P, def. Yuliana Barrios and Sam Jannuzzi 6-0, 6-2

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