This year’s Haddonfield Memorial High School boys’ tennis season was much different than last year’s from the get-go.
For starters, the team was unable to defend its Group II championship as it was moved down to Group I for the 2015 season.
The team had also lost two of the best players in school history, Max Oberholtzer, the school’s all-time singles wins leader, and Isaak Anderson, Haddonfield’s all-time doubles wins leader.
It was a year of new surroundings and new roles for the team’s returning players, but the Bulldawgs overcame this to win the Group I state championship.
Haddonfield won a state championship in consecutive years for the first time since 1991–92, defeating Mountain Lakes, 5–0, on May 20 to clinch the title.
Head coach Jeff Holman, in his 38th season as head coach of the boys’ tennis team, credited the team’s title to its depth, from first singles to second doubles.
“We always try to spend a lot of time with the younger players,” Holman said. “We hold JV tournaments to get our JV players some good matches and make them feel important and want to get better. Our doubles players that came in, they were JV players and they’re now all-stars.”
Senior Phil O’Connor was one of those players who moved up to varsity full time this year, playing doubles.
“When you lose a guy like Isaak, one of the best doubles players in the state, it’s just a matter of getting a group of guys who have worked their way up the past few years to play as a unit,” O’Connor said. “We thought if we could play well and scrape together some wins, it would take the pressure off the singles players.”
Senior Tommy Dodson moved into a large role as well, taking over for Oberholtzer at first singles.
“I knew Max was one of the best players in the state last year, so I worked really hard to get to that level and kind of fill in what he was able to do for our team,” he said.
Haddonfield’s depth was evident during a two-week period in April where Dodson was out of the lineup due to an injury. Dodson’s absence meant the rest of the team had to move up one slot. Holman felt it especially benefitted second singles player Sam Oberholtzer, who filled in for Dodson at first singles.
“Sam got better because he got to play in Tommy’s spot for two and a half weeks and got to play better people,” Holman said. “The guys that played in those matches got to play against tougher people, and it helped them in the long run.”
This year’s playoff team was much different than last year’s group. Only four of the nine Haddonfield players who played in the postseason this year were part of last year’s team.
Dodson was one of four players who had NJSIAA tournament experience entering the season. He and the other returning upperclassmen helped get the newer players acclimated to tournament play.
“We do a lot of score watching,” he said. “Since we’ve all been there before for four years, we know who we’re going to see and who they’re going to see.”
Playing in Group I presented a different challenge as well. Despite playing schools with smaller enrollments, O’Connor felt the competition was stiffer during the sectional tournament.
“It was a little more difficult in the South Jersey tournament but it was easier once we got to states than when it would have been in Group II,” O’Connor said.
The Bulldawgs’ season ended early on in the Tournament of Champions, where the team lost in the quarterfinals, 4–1, to Holmdel. Haddonfield had defeated Holmdel in 2014 to win the Group II championship.
“It would have been nice to win because we thought it was winnable,” doubles player Cameron Kohs said. “We still got two matches from them (in the Haddonfield Invitational), so it would have been nice to win. But it was after states, so it was more bragging rights.”
Looking ahead to next year, Haddonfield will again have to replace a number of seniors, including Dodson, O’Connor, Kohs and third singles player Mike Alberto. However, Holman believes the team’s depth will give it a chance to make a run at a third straight title in 2016.
