Montclair Kimberley girls tennis: County, division titles, courtful of individual honors

The Montclair Kimberley girls tennis team had the unfortunate luck of facing the best team in their section of the state tournament.

The Cougars would fall to Pingry, 4-1, in the Non-Public North title game. But the one victory by Montclair Kimberley in the contest, by the second doubles team of Lauren Chung and Ellie Lopiccolo, was only the second matchup that Pingry would lose all year in 14 contests. Pingry would go on to win the outright Non-Public state championship.

While there was no state title on their 2022 resume, the Cougars made it back-to-back Essex County Tournament championships and tied with Millburn and Newark Academy for the Super Essex Conference American Division title. They finished with a 17-2 record.

And the whole starting team is coming back next year.

"I am very happy with the way our season went," Montclair Kimberley head coach Billy Wing said. "Making the North Non-Public sectional final was also nice. We battled Pingry, the number one team in the state, but they were better than us that day."

Going into the match against Pingry, the Cougars were short-handed, without their second singles player, junior Milagros Carbajal Diaz, who was sick. 

"It would have been nice to play Pingry at full strength," Wing said. "We battled hard, but it could have been a different match if we had a full lineup."

For the season the Cougars had the number of one of their biggest rivals, Newark Academy — they won all three contests between the two schools, including defeating the Minutemen in the Essex County Tournament finals and in the state tournament.

"Beating Newark Academy three times in a year is also nice considering our intense rivalry and how competitive our matches have been the last few years," Wing said.

The coach pointed to the 3½-1½ victory over Newark Academy on Sept. 27 as the most pivotal win on the road, as the Cougars came from behind to clinch at least a share of the SEC American title. 

"I would say winning the conference match at Newark Academy this year when we had to come back after dropping four first sets was a huge win," Wing said. "Some of the kids were really under the weather and playing them two days after the county final was really tough. It was a huge win for us."

The girls also racked up individual honors. Both freshman Aria Nina Abalos and Diaz collected All Super Essex Conference American Division first nods as the first and second singles players. Junior Amara Bhatia, who was the mainstay at third singles, garnered All SEC American second-team nods along with doubles players Katie Chung and Hannah Lewis, both juniors. In addition, doubles players Lauren Chung, a freshman and the sister of Katie, and Lopiccolo, a junior, made the All American honorable mention list.

Abalos broke onto the scene and went 22-2 on the season. "Nina had an excellent freshman season, and it was a great honor to be named first team All SEC," Wing said. "A lot of great players have been named to the first team as a freshman, and she is a special player added to that list."

Diaz lost only two matches, going 16-2 at second singles. "Milagros also deserves to be there at first team with another stellar season at second singles," the coach said. "We are very fortunate to have such a strong one-two punch at the top of our line."

In addition to being named to the All SEC American second team, Bhatia collected an All New Jersey third-team honor after going 18-2-1.

"Amara had another great season at third singles and being honored with all state at third team at third singles says a lot about her," Wing said. "She really is one of the best third singles players in the state, and we are fortunate to have such a strong singles lineup. 

“Amara is not your typical grinding, patient third singles player. She can play an aggressive all-court style, and that gives her a huge advantage. Amara loves to compete, and she has so many ways to beat her opponents. She is fun to watch."

The doubles team of Katie Chung and Lewis went 17-4 at first doubles, while the second doubles squad of Lauren Chung and Lopiccolo compiled a 14-5 record.