Last year, Cydney Regus (above) was playing her first high school tennis match when she realized something strange was happening.
The Ridgefield Park singles player had reached the third set of her match against Westwood when she thought, “Oh my God! I’m sweating!”
Now a senior, Regus was getting her very first taste of competitive sports.
“Cydney was always the type who was more concerned with how her hair looked,” Ridgefield Park coach Jm Mazzarisi laughed.
“She never had any experience playing sports until last year … none.”
That’s changed now as Regus is the Scarlets’ rising first singles player.
“I was always more of a school person,” said Regus, a straight-A student and National Honor Society member.
“I played some (recreation) basketball in elementary school but just for fun. After my freshman year I thought, ‘Why not?’ It would look good on my transcript.”
As a sophomore, Regus watched her teammates play and learned the game. Then last fall, she earned the Scarlets’ third-singles job and was a smash hit, taking 1st-Team Big North-American Division honors.
Regus is certainly athletic looking and says people often asked her if she was a swimmer or a basketball player.
Mazzarisi said Regus showed promise as a sophomore and then blossomed last fall. He said she worked diligently this past summer to improve her game before taking the top position.
“For her to jump from never playing sports to playing first singles here … it’s remarkable,” Mazzarisi said.
Waldwick’s Tara Reilly is leading on and off the court
Few players in North Jersey have added more to their plate this season than Waldwick’s Tara Reilly (above).
The Warriors graduated almost all of last year’s team, including their three singles players. As a result, Reilly moved from first doubles to first singles this fall and also inherited the team’s leadership role as one of its captains.
This season, Reilly is one of only two upperclassmen on the squad along with fellow junior captain Anna Boddy. Bieszard called their efforts “critical” to the team’s success.
“They’re helping the younger players adjust and feel comfortable,” Bieszard said. “They’re also passing on what they’ve learned over the years on the court.
“Those two girls are very mature. They’ve got a lot on the table but they’re rising to the occasion.”
Reilly said being a leader and playing singles isn’t easy but that she “enjoys a challenge.”
“I’ve never been the bossiest person,” Reilly laughed. “But I’m making the best of it.”
Jazmine Bandala is Passaic Tech’s top bulldog
Another player who’s taken on a larger role this year is Passaic Tech’s Jazmine Bandala (above). The Bulldog senior is a four-year varsity player who’s worked her way up from doubles as an underclassman to second singles as a junior and is now the team’s top gun.
Passaic Tech coach Tom Bove said Bandala “took some lumps” at second singles last fall but dedicated herself to the sport over the summer and “looks like a different player now.”
“Jazmine came up as a freshman and won most of her doubles matches,” Bove said. “When she moved up to singles last year, she wasn’t ready for the speed of the game.
“Now she’s a much more consistent player and we’re expecting big things from her.”
Bandala, who has also excelled as the team’s captain this fall, said she’s putting everything she has into making her senior year her best.
“I feel like I have to prove something to myself,” Bandala said. “That I can stick with it through a match, even if things aren’t going my way.
“I have to keep doing my best and putting it all out there on the court.”
Saddle Brook senior Shreya Patel has climbed the Falcons’ ladder in each of her four seasons. She went from first doubles as a freshman to third singles as a sophomore and is now in her second season at first.
Falcons coach Kim Gerken said Patel has improved each year and is looking forward to seeing her compete as an “experienced veteran.”
“Shreya has played a lot of older, more experienced players the past,” Gerken said. “Now she’s finally that player and she’s going to use that to her advantage. She’s learned a lot over the years and it’s been great to see that evolution.”
Patel said her debut at first singles last season was rough. She lost by scores of 6-0 and 6-0 and said, “I’d blink and the ball would be by me.”
“It was horrible,” Patel said. “But it showed me where I needed to get to and I learned a lot from it.
“Now I feel more comfortable at this level. I know I’m not going to be competing in college so I want to have fun and enjoy my last year here.
“I’m not going to win every match but I feel like I can win a lot of them.”
New Milford takes 2nd at the Comet
Back row (left to right): Kokoro Sugiua, Emily Castano, Izabella Repasky, Danielle Kelly, Darya Yeruslanov, Nicole Te, Ediza Koch
Front row (left to right): Shantelle Guinto, Michelle Sydoruk, Yoshika Takezawa