On most days, Katarina Slonis is on a mission to get her match done quickly.
The Paul VI High School sophomore tennis player competes on the Eagles’ first doubles team while her sister, Natalya, is the program’s ace first singles player. If Katarina and partner Caroline Woodside can knock out their opponents early, there’s time to spectate on the other courts.
“I’m always so nervous for her,” Katarina said of her older sister. “I like when I can get my match done before her so I can watch her and cheer her on. I’m always trying to peek at her score.”
Natalya, a junior, handles the toughest assignment each day, taking on the best of the best at first singles. She helped steer the Eagles to 10 team wins this season before falling just short of winning the Olympic Conference National Division for the second straight year. The team has come a long way since Natalya joined the team as a freshman a couple of seasons ago. The Eagles were coming off a 2-8 season and slightly improved to 4-10 in 2021.
“We’re really making a name for ourselves and our school,” Natalya said. “We’ve had some tough matches, but we’ve learned a lot.”
Learning is a specialty for the Slonis sisters. Natalya is a member of the school’s National Honors Society, and Katarina is trending in that direction as an honors student who will become eligible for NHS next year.
A similar story takes place in the adjacent singles courts, as Hannah and Hailey Rowan compete at second and third singles, respectively. Hannah, a junior, and Hailey, a senior, are both also NHS members. They ride together to practices and matches, but they usually part ways once they arrive.
“Our coach actually didn’t make us play against each other because he didn’t want us to have a rivalry going on,” Hannah said with a laugh. “I usually practice with my dad instead.” Their father is not a bad practice partner, either – Brian Rowan is the men’s tennis coach at Rowan College South Jersey in Gloucester.
Hailey also tries to steer clear of her sister when it comes to competing head-to-head. “It’s kind of competitive between us sometimes, but it’s fun.”
That competitiveness has become contagious up and down the Eagles’ lineup. It’s helped Paul VI rebound from a few down years and gather back-to-back double-digit seasons in the win column.
“We’ve had a really good crop of girls come the last few years,” Paul VI coach James Cuartero said. “The girls play all year round, and that’s huge for us. And now we’ve had girls who started with us freshman year and have played all the way through.”
All three singles players and both doubles pairs, which includes a rotation of Annabelle Salvano, Ashley Batejan and Erika Oman at second doubles, have winning records this season.
“This year has been a lot of fun, and not just because of the success,” Cuartero said. “It’s a good group. The team bonding is a lot like last year and makes everything good and satisfying.”
Having a smart team helps, too. The majority of the squad is taking honors classes.
“On the court, sometimes I like to tune things out, but tennis is a very mental game,” Natalya Slonis said. “Strategy is so important. You have to think about everything. You can’t just hit a shot and pray. So having smart players definitely helps.”
Brains and bloodlines have been a great combination so far. Mix in a lot of team chemistry, and the Eagles are a hard team to beat.
“Even when we weren’t great a few years ago, it was still a good team environment,” Hailey Rowan said. “We were all friends with each other; it was a really close team. And that pushes us all to work harder.”
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