Cougars Pick Up Wins in Tennis, Volleyball and Boys Soccer as Fall Season Gets Underway
Nicholas Mistretta
MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent
MONTGOMERY, NJ — Montgomery High School’s fall sports teams continued early-season action with victories in girls tennis, girls volleyball and boys soccer, while the field hockey and girls soccer teams dropped their opening contests despite individual bright spots.
Girls Tennis Improves to 3-0 With 4-1 Win Over Rutgers Prep
The Montgomery girls tennis team continued its strong start, improving to 3-0 with a 4-1 victory over Rutgers Prep.
The Cougars won two of the three singles matches and swept both doubles positions.
At first singles, Lanxin Xiao turned in a commanding performance, defeating Aanya Vig 6-2, 6-1.
Mihika Doshi was equally impressive at third singles, rolling past Raghavi Aiyer 6-1, 6-0.
Rutgers Prep earned its lone point at second singles, where Sophia Lai defeated Montgomery’s Emily Ma in a tightly contested three-set match. Ma dropped the opening set 6-3, responded with a 6-2 victory in the second and then fell 10-6 in the deciding match tiebreak.
Montgomery’s doubles teams continued to provide a strong foundation.
Rachel Silverberg and Annie Xu defeated Zahra Shirley and Sanvi Narmeta 6-3, 6-1 at first doubles, while Nidhi Soppimath and Nikitta Chandane cruised past Ashwika Tipparaju and Aaliyah Patel 6-2, 6-0 at second doubles.
The victory keeps Montgomery unbeaten through its first three matches.
Girls Volleyball Sweeps Pingry to Move to 2-0
Montgomery girls volleyball also remained perfect, improving to 2-0 with a straight-set victory over Pingry.
The Cougars controlled the opening set 25-16 before completing the sweep with a 25-20 win in the second.
Sidney Koslow led the Montgomery attack with a team-high eight kills, while Pooja Venkat and Leah Fenmore added three kills apiece.
Ritisha Mungi directed the offense with 16 assists while also contributing two kills. Selina Tan led the defensive effort with five digs and also recorded a team-high three aces.
Venkat added four digs and two aces, while Koslow contributed an ace of her own.
Montgomery finished the match with 21 kills, 18 assists and six aces, continuing a strong start to the season.
Boys Soccer Opens With 3-2 Victory Over Franklin
The Montgomery boys soccer team opened its season on the winning side, edging Franklin 3-2.
The teams went into halftime tied at 1-1 before Montgomery outscored Franklin 2-1 over the final 40 minutes to secure the victory.
Mac Jerdonek, Dylan Heines and Ryan Spicer each scored for the Cougars.
Heines also contributed an assist to finish with a team-high three points, while Christiano Sferra and Tomas Tanoue each added an assist.
In goal, Nischal Ande made six saves to help Montgomery preserve the one-goal victory.
Franklin’s Devin Ferris accounted for both of his team’s goals.
The win gave Montgomery a 1-0 start to the season.
Ridge Tops Montgomery Field Hockey, 5-1
Montgomery field hockey battled Ridge through a scoreless opening quarter before the Red Devils pulled away for a 5-1 victory.
Ridge broke through twice in the second quarter, getting goals from Megan Duran and Lola Marchelli to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
The visitors added two more in the third quarter behind goals from Grace Geary and Emma Korte, then Marchelli scored her second of the game in the fourth to extend the advantage to 5-0.
Montgomery avoided the shutout when Carson Benedict found the cage in the fourth quarter off an assist from Ella Garrison.
Despite the final margin, Montgomery generated 14 shots on goal and earned five penalty corners.
Cougar goalkeeper Phoebe Rounds faced steady pressure and finished with 15 saves.
Ridge generated 23 shots on goal, with goalkeeper Lama Deraz making nine saves.
Montgomery begins the season at 0-1, while Ridge improved to 2-0.
Seamon Scores Twice, Quinn Records First Career Assist in Girls Soccer Opener
Montgomery girls soccer fell to Immaculata 6-2, but the Cougars received a two-goal performance from Emma Seamon and a career milestone from Mia Quinn.
Immaculata carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime before the game opened up offensively in the second half.
Seamon scored both Montgomery goals, while Quinn recorded her first career assist for the Cougars. Quinn Donahue also added an assist.
Montgomery goalkeeper Ellie Andes finished with six saves.
Immaculata received two goals from Sela Powell and one each from Ava Micko, Christyana Washington, Sabrina Karoly and Rosalie Ramos.
Despite the loss, Montgomery was able to generate six shots on goal and break through twice after halftime as the Cougars opened their season at 0-1.
Photo Credit: Nick Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomry.com