 South Jersey Tennis:
Final Day Moorestown Junior Open
Friday, June 28, 2002
By Sanipa Koetsawasdi
SJSports Staff Writer
It has been a successful tournament thus far this week for the Moorestown Junior Open. Despite the very warm temperatures, these athletes were able to find ways to stay cool and concentrate on winning their matches. With two finals left, the girls' 12-year-old singles playing first at in the morning, and the boys' 14-year-old singles afterwards in the afternoon, the competition is fierce, but is almost at its end.
 The finalists for the 12-year-old singles bracket are Elissa DeCampli and Brianna Brown. DeCampli defeated Winfield Call, and Brown defeated Zoey Call at the semifinals. Before the finals, DeCampli was kind of nervous and thought that what she had to do was to do her best and use everything she had learned in the past. Brown, on the otherhand, felt fine before the finals. Brown stated that, "I wasn't nervous or anything, just felt good. I had a lot of confidence." Both players were fierce competitors as DeCampli looked so calm and cool, while Brown seemed very powerful hitting enormous shots that eventually popped one of her racket strings. When it came down to it all, DeCampli was able to keep her cool and ended up winning 6-3,6-2 against Brown.
"I think I played very well. I need to work on my confidence and maybe some other special shots," stated DeCampli. These "special" shots are no doubt the reason why she won today as she learns how to hit them during her practice times. Brown stated after the match that she was, "a bit sad, a bit angry, but I'll get over it." Brown felt that she needed to work on her slices, hitting power shots, and work on her serves a bit. Brown will be participating in an upcoming tournament in Willingboro, NJ next month. DeCampli's upcoming tournaments will be held next month in Chicago, with some upcoming SR (Sectional Ranked) tournaments in July as well.
 As the afternoon rolled around, the boys' 14-year-old singles bracket match was here. The two finalists were Chris Edelschein and Raymond Verderame. Edelschein had defeated Gabrielle Allen (who played yesterday and won the boys' 12-year-old singles), and Verderame defeated Michael Chang in the semifinals. Before the tournament, Edelschein felt, "Okay. I want to try to win as much as I can." To prepare himself for the game, he listened to music to get himself "psyched up" and ready for the game. He was not sure how he would do in the game, but said he would try as hard as he can to win. Verderame basically said he felt good and was ready for the finals.
Edelschein felt good and happy defeating Verderame 6-2, 6-2. Edelschein said, "I was going into the match thinking I wasn't going to win." Edelschein knows he needs to work on his second serves as well as his backhand volley which he missed a couple of times. Edelschein's next event will be the South Jersey Open. Verderame was feeling pretty down after losing to Edelschein. As he stated, " I lost. I didn't feel good. I need to work on my backhand and my serves."
Here is a brief recap of the week's list of winners and their rankings:
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Girls' 10 Singles Finals
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Boys' 10 Singles Finals |
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Alysia Adams |
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Jason Berry |
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RyAnne Baldwin |
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Storm Portner |
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Emma Allen |
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Michael Bass |
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Jayantha Vatson |
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Girls' 12 Singles Finals
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Boys' 12 Singles Finals
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First Place:
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Elissa DeCampli
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First Place:
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Gabrielle Allen
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Second Place:
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Brianna Brown
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Second Place:
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Max Rubin
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Third Place:
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Zoey Call
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Third Place:
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Jason Berry
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Fourth Place:
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Winfield Call
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Fourth Place:
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Raj Putatunda
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| Girls' 14 Singles Finals |
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Boys' 14 Singles Finals |
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First Place:
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Elizabeth Sitzler |
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First Place:
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Chris Edelschein |
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Second Place:
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Jillian Horn |
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Second Place:
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Raymond Verderame |
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Third Place:
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Elissa DeCampli |
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Third Place:
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Michael Chang |
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Fourth Place:
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Samantha Schwartz |
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Fourth Place:
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Gabrielle Allen |
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| Girls' 16 Singles Finals |
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Boys' 16 Singles Finals |
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First Place:
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Jaimee Wylie |
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First Place:
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Chris Hoeland |
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Second Place:
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Anne Eiskowitz |
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Second Place:
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Michael Newgas |
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Third Place:
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Lauren Boyce |
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Third Place:
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Andrew Maisel |
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Fourth Place:
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Alex Wneck (default) |
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Fourth Place:
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Devin Kearns |
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| Girls' 18 Singles Finals |
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Boys' 18 Singles Finals |
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First Place:
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Ashleigh Johnson |
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First Place:
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Conor Wall |
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Second Place:
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Caitlin Scott |
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Second Place:
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Wesley Ho |
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Third Place:
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Krista McCormick |
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Third Place:
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Sadiq Zaki |
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Fourth Place:
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Brittany Horn (default, injured) |
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Fourth Place:
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Jayme Cox |
Photos by Joel Peterson
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South Jersey Tennis:
