Balanced attack carries Owls tennis to sectionals

Highland Park High School entered this year’s spring tennis season with four improved seniors, rising talent, and a secret weapon from below the equator.

Now with a 9-1 record, the boys team is projected to make some noise in the NJISAA Group 1 tournament. The sectional round starts on May 17th.

“We are ranked in the Top 10 in the county, and Top 5 in the state for Group 1,” says first-year head coach Mike Kaufman, who is also a history teacher at the high school. “Our senior leadership has been great . . . the core group of guys has been coming to practice every day, striving to get better.”

Highland Park seniors Asa Zuberman-Leibman and Sam Finegold are the co-captains who provide veteran leadership while being the voices of the team during practice. One can find the two co-captains being mentors to push their teammates to perform better.

“We have a new coach that is also an athlete,” said Finegold, who will be competing in the state tournament. Finegold went on to say that the new head coach has both given them tactical advice and provided a new mindset than in previous years.

 

The Owls are in good position for the sectional tournament, with four players who competed in the Greater Middlesex Conference tournament, a two-day individual tournament on April 27th and 28th.

 

The biggest new addition, however, is sophomore Thulani Hove. The exchange student from Zimbabwe has been very impressive in every meet the Owls had this season.

“I’ve been playing tennis my whole life,” Hove says. “I had a great team last season at my old high school in Zimbabwe. This year will be my first state tournament.”

Joining Hove and the two senior co-captains in the Group 1 tournament are seniors Steve Zhang and Yang Xu.

Zuberman-Leibman said during a recent team practice that adding Hove on this year’s team has been a huge asset.

Hove is “a very experienced guy, although he is only a sophomore,” said Zuberman-Leibman. “We’ve been impressed to see how well he has played.”

The Owls had a marquee win in their first meet of the season against Sayreville, last year's GMC champion. Since that meet, the Owls held on to win tough matches against tough teams.

Last year’s team finished 12-3, and exited in the sectional quarterfinals with a loss to division foe South River. The current team is on pace of surpassing last year’s winning total. With two upcoming meets against Wardlaw-Hartridge, the team will also face Metuchen, South River, and South Amboy to complete the regular season.

- Jason Lockhart