Nitika Arora and Maya Brink make Bellbrook HS history
BELLBROOK, Ohio – Nitika Arora and Maya Brink are the first female tennis players to qualify for the state tournament in Bellbrook High School history, finishing second in sectionals and fourth at districts.
Both Nitika and Maya are not traditionally doubles players. They are singles players, and each had a great season on their own. Nitika is a junior with a singles record of 11-3 for this season including wins over Sycamore, Chaminade Julienne, and twice over Alter. “My biggest challenge this season was adapting my game constantly to work successfully against each individual player I played depending on their strengths and weaknesses”. What does she think about her partner? “Maya is impressive in all aspects of tennis. Her greatest strengths are definitely her lightning-fast reflexes and well-placed volleys from the net.”
Her parents encouraged Nitika to play the sport at a young age. She started playing at Five Seasons in first grade. “Tennis is a skill sport that requires vast amounts of time on the court for any success to occur. Due to this, I have learned a great deal about commitment and grown because of it. “Nitika is also a competitive swimmer, swimming for Bellbrook. She qualified for districts both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She also stays in shape with strengthening boot camps and cardio exercises.
Maya is a freshman with a season record of 9-5. She played number one singles for Bellbrook, which means that she faces the best players from every team. “This is incredibly tough, especially as a freshman”, says Dever. One of her most significant matches was against Alter. Maya had played this player in the past outside of school. Even though she lost, it wasn’t a bad loss. Maya says, “I did much better against her than I thought I would.” She also beat the district champion twice this season and finished 3rd in the SWBL. She also eats well and exercises to stay in shape for her sport. When asked about Nitika, Maya says “My favorite thing about my partner is how she never gets down. She keeps a good attitude no matter what happens, and even after a loss she is immediately thinking about what we can do to improve.”
They’re both hard-wired singles players without much doubles experience, especially with each other as partners. Coach Lauren Dever made the decision to team the pair together. “They basically had to learn how to play doubles. They worked extremely hard and practices together every chance they got.”
Preparing for the tournament was an all-out effort by the Bellbrook team. Rarely taking a day off, Coach Dever coordinated different doubles opponents in order to challenge them. They played constantly with Coach Dever, teammate Maddeigh Chappars, pros at Five Seasons, tennis teammates from Five Seasons, siblings, and others. “The variety of people we played, and the sheer amount of time we spent on the tennis court prepared Maya and me for the postseason tournament, says Nitika.”
At the state tournament, played at The Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, Nitika and Maya lost a hard-fought match to a team who ultimately placed 4th, Magnificat (2-6, 2-6). The match consisted of several long points, and they broke the service game of the opponents at least twice “The girls fought hard and played extremely well”, says Coach Dever.
This year there was an additional challenge with COVID-19. Bellbrook was unable to play GWOC teams that were normally on the schedule, and there was a constant effort to sanitize equipment. The players also had to take extra measures to stay healthy. Most significantly, during the lockdown, although Nitika was able to hit with her sister, Maya was unable to play because there was no way for her to hit with anyone.
Coach Lauren Dever has coached for two years. She attended Wheelersburg High school and Center College. She believes that it’s most rewarding to see a player work hard and get better at something and watch their reaction when they realize when their hard work begins to pay off. “I think that’s an empowering feeling and it’s great to see young people experience that.”
Nitika and Maya will be back next year. The Bellbrook High School Tennis Program hopes to open their summer camp next year to middle school. “We want to get as many girls out there getting instruction and hitting balls as early and as much as possible. We want to continue building on the success we’ve had.” Says Coach Dever.
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