PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It’s been more than two weeks since Theresa Strano last picked up her tennis racket, and she isn’t quite sure when she will be able to hit the court again.
Anyone who knows the GCIT junior even casually understands how cruel of a punishment that is.
“When I wasn’t really serious about tennis, I would take breaks every now and then,” she said. “But since the couple of months before (my first year of) high school started … I haven’t really taken a break for more than two days.”
It’s been that kind of fall for Strano, whose junior season did not go exactly as planned thanks to a lingering back injury that she is currently treating with physical therapy. The fact that she was still able to shine is a testament to her talent, her guts and her devotion to the sport.
Strano captured her second consecutive Gloucester County Tournament title, reached double digits in wins for the third year in a row at first singles, and led the Cheetahs to the South Jersey, Group 4 semifinals and a school-record 16 wins. She has been named South Jersey Times Girls Tennis Player of the Year for her accomplishments.
When informed that his star player was receiving the honor, GCIT coach Danny Cohen was thrilled because it was the kind of good news she needed to lift her spirits.
“It was a very frustrating season for her,” he said, “but she gave it her best shot.”
Strano first burst onto the local tennis scene as a freshman at GCIT, when she reached the final of the county tournament. Last year she won the tournament and was a South Jersey Times all-area selection, raising her expectations coming into her junior season.
But the lower back pain she had been tolerating throughout her high school career just would not go away.
“It’s kind of been an on-and-off issue for a couple of years,” she said. “Freshman year I even had a couple of matches where it was pretty bad, but after a week or two it went away and I didn’t have to miss any matches. Then last year I was consistently going to the trainer and getting heat on my back to keep myself in matches, but it wasn’t as bad as it was this year.
“This year was definitely the peak of it. Obviously, I had to sit out a lot of matches to try to get better. There aren’t a lot of times during the season when you get a break, so I had to give myself a break.”
Strano especially felt the pain when she was serving, and Cohen said the back would flare up against tough competition, when she had to move all over the court. In order to keep her healthy for the major tournaments and important matches, she often had to become a spectator.
“It was really hard because I love to play tennis and to have to sit out on the side (was tough),” she said. “Even though I love my team and it was still fun watching them play, I wish I was out on the court as well. With all the injuries, I wasn’t able to achieve the goals I had for myself this season, such as getting to 50 wins for my high school career — I’m stuck on 49. I was really looking forward to the South Jersey tournament too, and I didn’t play in a lot of matches to save myself for that, but it ended up not working out as planned.”
Strano received a high seed in the South Jersey Interscholastic Championships (SJIC), but could not make it through her opening match against Eastern’s Magha Kumar on Oct. 22.
“Her back was like a ticking time bomb,” Cohen said. “Since (the SJIC) was the last week of the season, we tried to see what would happen, but you could just tell in the first game that it wasn’t happening. I kind of let her come to the decision, and at the end of the first set she said, ‘I can’t keep going.’ For her to say that, you know it’s really bad.”
Strano is now going to physical therapy two times a week and is optimistic about the future. Her private coach, Bob Fisicaro, has even given her a rallying cry.
“I just started (therapy) so we’re in the beginning stages, but I’m definitely feeling better,” she said. “I haven’t played tennis since the South Jersey tournament, and this will allow me to come back as strong as possible. I got to talk to my coach and we were talking about the setback, and he even said, ‘This is a setback but it will make for a better comeback.’ I’m believing those words.”
She also has plenty of positives from this season to draw upon, such as the county tournament. It wasn’t the back that day that was giving her problems, but instead a hamstring injury suffered in the final against Clearview’s Sarah Crawford. She basically persevered on one leg and claimed the title in three thrilling sets.
“That day was very emotional because when I got hurt, I thought the match was over,” she said. “From then on, I played a little more relaxed, especially in the third set. I thought, ‘Whatever happens, happens at this point, because people are probably already counting me out.’ When I actually did win, I was really proud of myself for continuing and not letting myself give up. It was definitely one of my highlights of my entire tennis career.”
Next year, Strano will have a chance to become the fifth person in the history of the county tournament to win three titles.
“I feel like a lot of players like that, sometimes they look above and beyond where they came from,” Cohen said. “But I know the county tournament means a lot to her and she definitely wants to be a three-time champion. I don’t think she would accept anything less.”
Strano will continue to set a high bar for herself.
“Knowing that my back has kind of been a problem, I’ve never gotten to play to my full potential, I believe,” she said. “Now that I’m getting the problem resolved, I think I’ll come back really strong next year. I still have my goals and they’re going to carry over and be elevated, and I’ll be held to a higher standard because I’ll have a whole year to train more. I definitely hope to go farther in the South Jersey tournament and not have to withdraw in the first round, and in the state tournament I’m still looking for that (first) win.”
As far as Cohen is concerned, Strano has already left a lasting mark on the program, even if she doesn’t win another match. She went 10-3 in team matches this year, including close losses to Samantha Tepes of Shawnee and Rhea Sethi of Lenape, two of the best players in South Jersey, and he felt she could have won both if she was at 100%.
“Everybody in South Jersey knows how good she is, and she doesn’t need to prove anything,” he said. “She just needs to get healthy.”
He knows that she will commit fully to that goal this offseason, and by the time next fall rolls around she will be ready to resume her role as team leader. Cohen calls her “one of the most team-centric people I’ve ever seen,” and Strano’s biggest objective for her senior season is enjoying the time with the rest of the Cheetahs before hopefully moving on to a college career.
“I just love my team,” she said. “Anytime I talk to anyone about tennis, I talk about my team, because in the team playoffs we wouldn’t be able to go as far if it was just me. To have these teammates to back me up and support me (is great). It’s not like we just play a match and don’t talk to each other again. We still go over each other’s house; we recently had a pumpkin-carving party. It’s really fun and it’s nice to have friends and people who support you. I think we’ll come back stronger next year because we’ll return a lot of people, and a lot of them are going to be seniors.”
TEAM OF THE YEAR
The South Jersey Times coverage area has been blessed with outstanding programs in recent years, and this season was another banner one. Gateway reached its fifth consecutive South Jersey, Group 1 final. Vineland nearly won 20 matches and finished second in the highly competitive Cape-Atlantic League American standings. Cumberland, Schalick and Pennsville all went undefeated in their divisions in the Tri-County Conference, and GCIT continued to reach new heights in program history.
But once again, one area team rose above the rest: Clearview.
The Pioneers went 8-0 for their fourth straight perfect season in the Tri-County Royal — you have to go all the way back to October 2018 to find their last division loss — and finished 17-2 overall. The only losses were to a pair of sectional champions, Haddonfield and Shawnee, with the latter coming in the South Jersey, Group 3 semifinals.
Clearview also extended its streak of team titles at the Gloucester County Tournament to three in a row and won for the sixth time in nine years. The entire starting lineup for the Pioneers made the semifinals.
Four of those starters will graduate this year, but Clearview will bring back a solid nucleus led by first singles Sarah Crawford and third singles Felicity Huang. It will be interesting to see if the Pioneers can stay on top next fall.
COACH OF THE YEAR
As always, there was no shortage of worthy candidates for this award. Gateway’s Keith Abed led the Gators to a fifth straight sectional final with almost an entirely new starting lineup. West Deptford’s Dorothy Ponto guided the Eagles to the Colonial Conference Patriot Division title and the sectional semifinals. GCIT set a school record for wins under Danny Cohen, Collen Senor and Clearview continued to dominate, Vince Luciano helped Vineland win its most matches in a season since 2017, and Dan Fishman steered Deptford to its first winning campaign since 2014.
But the nod goes to Cumberland’s Devon Land, a former assistant who took over for Ashley Evans as head coach this year and kept the Colts rolling despite having to replace a four-year first singles player in Savannah Falk and a strong first doubles player in Amanda Wolk.
With a new lineup in place, Land’s squad got better and better as the season went on. Cumberland finished 13-5 overall and 10-0 in the Tri-County Liberty for its second straight unbeaten season in the division and third consecutive Liberty title.
The Colts also reached a sectional final for the third year in a row before falling to Haddonfield in the South Jersey, Group 2 championship match.
Five of seven starters will be back in 2023, so Land and the Colts will surely be heard from again next season.
ALL-AREA TEAM
SINGLES
Sarah Crawford, Clearview, Sophomore
After an excellent freshman season in 2021, there was absolutely no sophomore slump whatsoever for Crawford, who moved from second singles into the top spot for the Pioneers and still thrived. She went 18-1 in team matches — her only loss was to South Jersey’s best player, Samantha Tepes of Shawnee — and had notable wins over South Jersey Times Player of the Year Theresa Strano and Haddonfield’s Sammy Sirover. Crawford followed up her third-place finish at the Gloucester County Tournament as a rookie with a second this season, as she dropped a thrilling rematch with Strano in three sets. She also reached the round of 32 at the South Jersey Interscholastic Championships (SJIC), where she dropped a third-set tiebreaker to Mainland No. 1 Christina Htay.
Emily Miscioscia, Clearview, Senior
At most schools in the South Jersey Times coverage area, Miscioscia would have played first singles for at least one season in her scholastic career. At Clearview she happened to be stuck behind two phenomenal players: first Carlee Cristella, and then Sarah Crawford. But Miscioscia didn’t complain, she simply went out and did whatever she could to help the Pioneers win, wherever she was in the lineup. She played second singles for three seasons, including this one, and third in the other, compiling a 58-10 record in team matches during that time. This fall she made the semifinals at the Gloucester County Tournament before falling to eventual champion Theresa Strano, and reached the round of the 32 at the South Jersey Interscholastic Championships.
Theresa Strano, GCIT, Junior
Strano battled various ailments, including a lingering back injury, but still put together an impressive season that earned her South Jersey Times Player of the Year honors. She went 10-3 in team matches, and one of those losses came to Clearview’s Sarah Crawford, which she later avenged in the final of the Gloucester County Tournament with a gusty performance in which she overcame a hamstring injury to prevail in three sets. That was her second straight county title, and next season she will have a chance to become the fifth player ever with three county crowns. Strano also took Shawnee’s Samantha Tepes and Lenape’s Rhea Sethi, two of the elite players in South Jersey, to third-set tiebreakers. Her back injury forced her to retire after the first set of her first match at the SJIC, and she was also limited at the state singles tournament.
DOUBLES
McKenzie McDowell, Senior and Megan McLoughlin, Senior, Clearview
McLoughlin repeated as the Gloucester County Tournament doubles champion, this time with McDowell by her side as the first-year partners defeated teammates Noelle Gregg and Ava Hertlein in the final. They compiled a 17-2 record during team matches, with the only losses coming to teams from Shawnee and Haddonfield that went on to face off in the final of the South Jersey Interscholastic Tournament. McDowell and McLoughlin made it to the round of 16 at the SJIC before falling to Shawnee’s No. 2 pair.
Kristia Deinla, Junior and Kiera Stokes, Sophomore, GCIT
In their second year playing together, Deinla and Stokes went 15-2 in team matches, with the only losses coming to Clearview’s McKenzie McDowell and Megan McLoughlin and Lenape’s Kaitlyn King and Amee Chauhan in tiebreakers. They reached the semifinals of the Gloucester County Tournament, where they lost to eventual champions McDowell and McLoughlin, and went on to finish third. At the South Jersey Interscholastic Tournament, they dropped a heartbreaker to Moorestown’s No. 1 in the round of 16, falling 10-8 in the tiebreaker. Deinla and Stokes also competed in the state doubles tournament.
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