Columbia HS girls’ tennis players gain accolades

MAPLEWOOD, NJ – The Columbia High School varsity girls’ tennis team featured eight players on the All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division.

The First Team honorees are first doubles players Lexie Fox and Marissa Bowles and second doubles players Becca Brown and Janine Bacchus-Joseph.

On the Second Team are first singles player Hannah Gross and second singles players Sarah Braka.

Fox and Bowles had the best record on the team at 13-7 and qualified for the state doubles tournament, the first girls to make the state tournament in head coach Bob Lieberman’s six years at Columbia

The Cougars won a first-round match at the Essex County Tournament for the first time in Lieberman’s tenure at Columbia, defeating Mount Saint Dominic Academy. The team also won a first-round state section tournament team match for the second year in a row, defeating Piscataway.

The highlight of the season was a 3-2 win over Governor Livingston with the deciding point earned by Braka in a three-hour three-setter.

The team’s record was 9-10. All players except Bowles and Thibodeau return next year.