Holmdel finishes superb run Loses to Millburn in state final, finishes at 21-1 BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer The Holmdel High School girls tennis team completed an outstanding season with a 21-0 mark and things look good again for the Hornets next season as only two players will be lost to graduation. Coach Chuck Chelednik's team was on fire from the very start, winning 21 consecutive matches before bowing to Millburn in the NJSIAA North 2 Group III final. Along the way the Hornets won the Shore Conference Tournament for the third straight season, taking home the crown after beating a tough Wall contingent, 3-2, in the finale. Holmdel also reclaimed the Conference's Class A Central title after finishing third a year ago. Chelednik's girls have been division champs for four of the past five campaigns. As always, or so it seems, the Hornets fielded an outstanding lineup from top to bottom. Freshman Karolina Wojciak emerged as the number one singles player and compiled a fine 21-7-1 record. At 5-7, Wojciak easily gets to most balls and her baseline game wears down opponents. Anne Chen had a strong year at second singles where she was 21-6. The junior frustrates the opposition with an uncanny ability to keep the ball in play. Another junior, Jen Lee, led the team with 24 wins out of the third singles slot. Lee employs a big serve and is aggressive at the net. Holmdel's first doubles tandem of Linda Hong, one of two seniors, and junior Lisa Yan compiled 22 victories against four losses. The second pairing, senior Morgan Chen and junior Stephanie Huang triumphed 18 times and lost just once. If that's not enough, the Hornets are loaded with talented young players and Chelednik worked to get them in the lineup throughout the year. "Actually, our depth is our strongest point," the coach said. "The girls work very well together, but they also challenge each other in practice. That makes all of the girls work harder and I think it shows in our record." The coach used juniors Dorrie Lee and Kathy Tsai four times as a doubles unit and the duo came away with four successes. Sophomore Erica Lai and freshman Jessica Sher won three times at doubles. In addition, sophomores Vivien Chen and Amali Gunawardana and freshmen Ashley Tran and Freda Chuan saw some varsity action as well. Early in the campaign Chelednik stated his team's goals as winning the division, the conference tourney and getting past the semifinals in the state tourney where the Hornets lost a year ago to West Morris- Mendham. "We'll have almost all of the girls back and they're only going to get better and better," the coach said. "The depth we have on this team is so important. Not only do the girls push each other, they're all ready to play when called upon. This was a particularly valuable year for our younger players as they got used to playing at the varsity level. That will help them next year as well."