30 years on, coach has fond memories of girls tennis state championship at Middle Township – team to be honored along with five Hall of Fame inductees Monday

Posted: February 1st 2026

The 1996 Middle Township High School girls tennis team shortly after winning the state title at Mercer County Park (from left): top row - coach Tracey Hall, Swapna Mehta, Kate Jackson, Joanna Newdeck, Allison Brewer, Lauren Anzelone, assistant coach Lionel Desrosiers; bottom row - Rachel Morse, Miranda Campbell, Alethea Desrosiers, Regan Campbell.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

When Tracey Hall thinks back to late October of 1996, one thing always pops into her head.

“You think about it, it’s really, really hard to win a state title,” she said.

Hall had a front-row seat  efor that experience, however, as the head coach of the Middle Township High School girls tennis team, which won the state Group III title in 1996.

In the year of the 30th anniversary of that accomplishment, the team is set to be honored Monday evening as part of the school district’s Hall of Fame ceremony that is set to take place in between a basketball doubleheader, Middle’s girls team taking on Our Lady of Mercy Academy at 5 p.m. and the boys team facing off against St. Augustine Prep at 7:15 p.m.

The 1996 girls tennis team is one of the great teams in the history of Middle Township High School. The Lady Panthers went 26-2, won the prestigious Moorestown Classic and produced the South Jersey individual champion in senior Regan Campbell, who went on to play Division I college tennis at American University.

The other singles players were senior Alethea Desrosiers at No. 2 and sophomore Miranda Campbell, Regan’s younger sister, at No. 3. 

First doubles was made up of sophomore Allison Brewer and freshman Lauren Anzelone. The second doubles team featured seniors Kate Jackson and Swapna Mehta. Joanna Newdeck and Rachel Morse also made their way into the varsity lineup on occasion.

Middle’s only regular-season loss came early in the season at a top-flight tournament in North Jersey. The team didn’t lose again until the now-defunct Tournament of Champions, a postseason tournament made up of the six state group champions.

Hall recalled how driven the players were from the start of the season all the way to the finish.

“Everyone could see around them what was going on and how serious everyone was about winning, so they all put their heads down and worked hard,” Hall said. “They all had the same mindset. They were all serious about athletics. This wasn’t just something to do after school for them.”

Middle went into the season with high expectations. The team reached the South Jersey title match in 1994 and won the South Jersey title in 1995. It featured a lineup full of talented players, many of whom had been playing the sport for at least a few years prior to entering high school.

“Because of what happened the two years before and with all these really good players we had, I definitely thought we had a chance to go all the way in ‘96,” Hall said. “It almost seemed like that was the progression for us. You just kept going and going. They had the experience. They were used to the traveling and everything that had gone into (a long playoff run). They had been there before.”

Middle captured its second straight South Jersey title when it beat Mainland in the sectional title match. The team then got past Princeton in the state semifinal to earn a trip to Mercer County Park to face Ramapo in the state Group III title match.

Middle secured a 3-2 victory to capture the title. After Regan and Miranda Campbell won their respective singles matches, Derosiers clinched the championship with her win at second singles.

Desrosiers, who normally did not display much emotion when she played, burst into euphoria when she realized her team secured the three points needed to win the match.

“I remember Alethea smiling broadly from ear to ear, and she didn’t always do that,” Hall said. “She was just so happy. She didn’t always show a lot of emotion, but I remember how emotional she was that day.”

The girls tennis state championship came in a golden era of Middle Township High School sports. The school’s boys basketball team won state titles in 1993 and 1994 and the girls basketball team won state titles in 1994 and 1995. The boys basketball team won a South Jersey title in 1997. And the school’s softball team also reached a South Jersey title game in the late 1990s.

“There were obviously a lot of great athletes at Middle in the 1990s,” Hall said.

Hall of Fame inductees Monday evening include the following:

Dennis Roberts: Longtime Middle Township Board of Education president who has been a strong supporter of academics and athletics in the district.

Mabel Bryan: Former educator who taught English for 28 years in the school district.

Alex Hicks: The 2011 New Jersey Group II golf champion and Academic All-American.

Frank Riggitano: Former teacher, athletic director, principal who worked in the school district for 36 years. He was also a successful football coach, finishing with more than 100 career victories.

Paul Yerk: Former 35-year English and special education teacher, state champion golf coach and longtime assistant football coach. Being inducted posthumously.

This will be the third class elected to the school’s Hall of Fame. Nominations for the school district’s Hall of Fame are considered for any person who graduated from or was employed with the district who has brought honor to the community.

Tickets for Monday evening’s basketball games and Hall of Fame festivities will be available at the door.