All Daily Record Girls Tennis: Chatham's Blydenburgh repeats as Player of the Year

When Scarlett Blydenburgh burst onto the scene as an untested freshman last year, the top singles player for Chatham may have taken a few opponents by surprise on her way to capturing the Morris County Tournament first singles title and advancing to the Round of 16 at the NJSIAA singles tournament.

There was no element of surprise working in her favor this fall, however. Returning to the same courts where she posted a 22-4 record during her freshman campaign, Blydenburgh knew that achieving her goals and getting back to the top would pose an even greater challenge with the opposition looking to knock off the county's top player.

"The competition is always there and it's always getting tougher," Blydenburgh said. "You have to accept that and set your expectations higher and work even harder to achieve them."

And that's exactly what the sophomore standout did. Adding some new weapons to her already lethal arsenal, she repeated as Morris County Tournament first singles champion with a straight-set victory over Mendham's Lauren Hassell and again advanced to the Round of 16 at the state singles tourney. She finished with a 20-3 record, improving her two-year career mark to 42-7 while collecting her second consecutive MCT first singles crown and helping lead her team to the team championship.

"It was a more challenging year for Scarlett as defending MCT champion," Chatham head coach James Cai said. "But she's grown and improved so much and she's been playing more aggressively and more confidently. She's become mentally stronger than last year, and she even demonstrated outstanding leadership on the team to bring the team forward."

Blydenburgh is the 2014 All Daily Record Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

"I was pleased with my season overall but was a little disappointed with my finish in the (state) singles tournament," said Blydenburgh, who dropped a decisive 10-point super-tiebreaker to Hightstown's Sneha Rangu in the Round of 16 after storming back from 1-4 down to capture the second set and even the match at a set apiece. "I expected to go a little further but you can't dwell on it. Everyone makes mistakes and you just have to learn from them and move on. There's always room for improvement in your game."

One area of her game that Blydenburgh talks about improving before next season is her serve and return game, where she believes she can pick up a few extra points in big matches.

"There are a few new weapons I'd like to add before next year," Blydenburgh said. "I want to develop my serve over the summer and add some speed to my first serve. The serve and return are important weapons as you improve your game."

Blydenburgh elects to concentrate on her own game rather than that of her opponents and believes that the increasing pressure to continue to perform at a high level comes from within and is something that can be controlled.

"There's always pressure, I just try to focus on myself and my game," Blydenburgh said. "I just keep working as hard as I can and try not to let the pressure get to me. Nothing really changes that much when you take the court. You have to trust your game and your mental approach."

One long-term goal Blydenburgh has allowed herself to explore is the possibility of winning the Morris County Tournament first singles title in each of her four years at Chatham. She is already halfway and showing no signs of slowing down.

"I've thought about winning counties all four years but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself," Blydenburgh said. "It would definitely be a nice achievement and I look forward to getting the chance to compete for that chance."