Andrea Cerdan came, saw and conquered everything in her path for a second time this past season.
The Paramus Catholic senior and blue-chip prospect according to the Tennis Recruiting Network went a perfect 23-0 on the year winning her second NJSIAA state singles tournament championship in October and her third Bergen County large schools tournament first singles title.
For those reasons, Cerdan is the 2018 NJ.com girls tennis Player of the Year.
Cerdan skipped her junior year of high school tennis to focus on academics, training, and choosing a college to attend, but the hard-hitter and passionate player returned to take back the state singles crown that she won in 2016 as a sophomore.
She is one of five players in the history of the tournament to win it twice.
"It feels great getting my title back and showing everyone that I'm the best player in the state," Cerdan said after defeating Ashley Hess of Holy Angels in the final in three sets, 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4, at Mercer County Park last month. "I envisioned that I would be back here winning the tournament and it came true."
Cerdan had to battle as Hess, a five-star recruit in her own right, fought her way back to win the second set. She even took 3-2 and 4-3 leads in the third set. Cerdan however closed out the match winning the next three games.
"I really stepped up my level," Cerdan said. "I didn't want to give away anymore free points. I just tried to stay consistent as I could. I went after the right shots and serves were better too."
Cerdan and Hess met seven times in their high school career with Cerdan going 7-0 including in the state singles final and three times in the BCT final.
"I wanted to come back and win states and counties against her. In terms of finding a way to win and grinding it out, this was the best match," Cerdan added.
Cerdan earned a spot on the First Team, All-State, First Team-All Flight at first singles, and First Team All-Non-Public teams this season.
For her career, she went 78-1, remarkably dropping just six total sets. Her lone loss was in the quarterfinals of the state singles tournament as a freshman to the eventual champion.
"It meant a lot to me from the start to represent Paramus Catholic and to make everyone proud of me for accomplishing everything I did in my three years playing in high school," Cerdan said. "It takes a lot of hard work to be the best player in New Jersey and in Bergen County and it all paid off."
Once she graduates in the spring, Cerdan will head to Michigan and play in the Big Ten. Maybe down the line she'll face the 2017 state singles tournament winner, Tess Fisher from Vineland, who is at Rutgers.
"I hope to accomplish helping the team out by contributing wins as much as I can in regular season matches, fall invitationals, the Big Ten championships, and the NCAAs," Cerdan said. "I can't wait to be a part of the best team ever."
Contact Chris Nalwasky at cnalwasky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisWasky.
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