By Nathaniel Charendoff ’17, Staff Writer

Tennis at Newark Academy can be accurately described in one word: dynasty.

Both the boys and girls teams have been notoriously dominant in past seasons and will certainly continue to be a force with which to be reckoned for years to come. The program has even overseen the development of eventual professional tennis player Justin Gimelstob, who, during his sophomore year, spearheaded the school in a season that featured an undefeated season and a successful triumph in the Tournament of Champions (he was also one of Nurse Neary’s favorites if you didn’t already know).

This past fall season has seen the girls tennis squad earn impressive titles, winning both the Non-Public B North State sectional title and Non-Public B State Championship. As Rakhi Kundra 17’ points out, “the team was really young this year, which is amazing because it shows just how much potential we have in coming years, as well as the sheer talent of our players.” Crystal Wang 17’ agreed: “I think our team was better than it was in past years. We finished fourth in the state this year, while we barely made the top 20 teams my freshman year.” The greater emphasis on younger players allowed the opportunity for underclassmen to step up and act as leaders in the team, which was absolutely necessary in such a physically draining season. As Rakhi explained, “most of [the] tournaments took place early in the season and during the day because tennis cannot go that late into the fall due to weather conditions.” The team played close to 30 matches in a time spanning less than two months.

Another incredible achievement that came out of yet another successful season belonged to sophomore Cynthia Huang, who was designated the Super Essex Conference Player of the Year. Fellow sophomore pairing Sydney Loh and Rebecca Slater won 2^nd Team All-State honors.

Newark Academy tennis has, over time, transformed itself into a statewide powerhouse with a winning culture. This is evident too, in the boys’ team, which has been just as or, perhaps, even more dominant than the girls’ in past seasons; the boys have won 15 non-parochial B state titles to the girls’ 13. NJ.com has already published its list of the top 20 boys tennis teams in the state, upon which Newark Academy sits top. Jonathan Holtzman 16’, who has been playing tennis for about nine years, thoroughly enjoys playing at NA, because, as he states, “tennis is an individual sport, but NA allows me to play the sport in a team environment.” The boys team will return with more experience this time around, as it retains nearly the same exact lineup as last year (with the exception of Ben Hyatt 15’). As Holtzman points out, “our team has always been strong so we kind of expect the same thing this year. Last year we were a very young team and did well, so there will be less intimidation this year with an older team.” One of the goals for this season, as was the case with the majority of past seasons, is to win the State Championship. Holtzman continues, “although it’s not our annual goal, we all want to win the Tournament of Champions.”

With easily one of the best squads in the state –if not the best — expect an array of positive results to come from the boys in the spring. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we can look forward to the 2016 season with the prospect of silverware in mind.