By Katherine Rodriguez

Part of the nature of high school sports is that there is a constant turnover of players, after the senior players graduate. The girls tennis team lost a number of superlative players for this year. However, seniors, Mona Patel and Salini Jariwala were committed to not letting the advancements made in past years fall apart this year. They stepped up to the net to lead PHS’s Varsity Tennis Team.

While both of these players have the same goal in mind they did not travel the same road to team leadership. Patel did not start playing tennis until the age of 13, and as a freshman thought, “When will I ever play like them?” as she watched the varsity tennis players practice.

Jariwala began at the age of 10 and wanted to use and hone her talent in high school and later when she plans on playing tennis as she attends college. She ended her freshman year on the junior varsity team.

Both of these talented players gained the necessary skills and conditioning quickly, especially with the help of their excellent coaches, Mr. Contaldi and Mr. Major. Patel and Jariwala made honors at the league and county level. Patel earned First Team All-County and Jariwala earned First Team All-League.

Both ended their senior high school season on a high note with a winning record of 12-4. Going into college both Patel and Jariwala look forward to play tennis at the collegiate level whether in the NCAA or club.

The success of this year’s team was not a forgone conclusion. Jariwala said, “There were very few returning players. We wanted to build a strong team.”
Individually, each of these special seniors wanted to win a title at the county level and compete in state sectionals. Patel wanted a personal record of 13-3 just a shy off her final record, 12-4.

Patel and Jariwala agreed that the team is looking at a tough road ahead but know they can pull through by learning from their mistakes, and especially by practicing consistently on and off season in order to succeed.
Patel’s likes the challenge. She said, “I always play opponents better than me, so I can make mistakes and then learn from them to get better.”

Both, Patel and Jariwala commented that they learned throughout the four years playing for PHS that it does not matter if you come from an urban city.
While Passaic only has a team at the high school level, other schools have tennis programs that go from elementary school through high school. That does not matter to the PHS Varsity Team.

Patel remembers a significant moment in her tennis career, where she defeated an opponent from Livingston who had believed it would be an easy win against Passaic. When Patel pulled off an upset, all of Livingston was in shock. “That felt really good,” said Patel, “I was proud to represent PHS.”

However, as the 2014 season came to an end, Patel and Jariwala remained humble, knowing where they started from and where they ended in their senior year.

This team feels as though they accomplished a great deal during their tenure playing as Indians. They are passionate about the sport and honored that they have been given the opportunity to wear the blue and red. They encourage all students to go for their dreams and try new things while they are at PHS.

“Take advantage of all that PHS has to offer. You never know where it might lead,” said Jariwala.