This year was extremely productive for the girls’ tennis team at Glen Rock High School. Coach Bonnie Zimmermann was elected to be The Record Coach of the Year. One of her best players, Alex Mircea, was selected as The Record 2014 Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year.

In order to decide who will be elected the best coach of the year for the Record, the coach must be voted for by their fellow coaches. The coaches take into consideration how a team had done during the year and how they got along with other teams. Any coach who is selected by their individual league then represents that league and is voted on by all the other coaches in Bergen County.

Zimmermann encourages her players to do their best and often tells them to ‘play hard and never give up.’ She loves all the players in her team and views it as one big happy family. The talented players and dedicated coach allowed the Panthers to win 18 of 20 matches this year.

Alex Mircea, a senior, started playing for the Panthers in her freshman year under coach Zimmermann. Zimmermann had already known of Mircea and was aware that she was a good player because she had seen Mircea play with a trainer.

Yet Zimmermann first met Mircea personally in middle school when she was coaching a boy’s tennis team.

“She insisted that she was able to play with them,” Zimmermann recalled.

Although Zimmermann did not allow her to play with the boys, she offered Mircea some reassurance. “I told her that her time will come, and it certainly did,” Zimmermann said.

Mircea started playing tennis in 8th grade but progressed quickly because of her competitive nature and love for the sport. She finished her final season by winning all of her matches. “I’ll do anything I can to win,” Mircea said.

She dropped only one set throughout the season and lost an average of just two games to her competitors. She led the Panthers to the North 1, Group 1 crown. Mircea beat Hala Davis in a tiebreaker during the semifinals, winning with a score of 3-2. In the finals, Mircea scored the team’s only point in a loss of 4-1 against New Providence.

Mircea usually practices six days out of the week and leaves one day for resting.

“Throughout her high school career she got stronger, she got faster, learned from her experiences and applied in the next situation,” Zimmermann explained. Many of her team members described her as determined, focused, and very energetic.

There had been multiple girls that were the best single players in the county. The reporters of the Record decide who the best player of the year is. “They probably chose Alex because she won the county tournament twice in a row, and had such an amazing record this year,” Zimmermann said.

During college Mircea plans on playing division one tennis and will continue playing throughout her life.