WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP – A year ago, Alina Vysochenko was a 13-year-old boarding a plane in Germany headed to the United States with her mother, Iryna, and brother Olexander, escaping their war-torn Ukrainian homeland.
On Thursday, she was a freshman playing for Shore Regional in the NJSIAA girls’ tennis singles state championship match at Mercer County Park, where she dropped a hard-fought three-set decision to Nina Abalos of Montclair Kimberly, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
It was the first time a Shore Regional player had reached a state final, while Abalos, a sophomore, was the top-seed and favorite heading into the final.
Alina Vysochenko’s father: ‘We’re a tennis family’
“They came in October last year, and I joined them in November,” said Vlad Vysochenko, Alina’s father, who is a tennis instructor. “We’re a tennis family, and tennis has helped this transition.”
And while his daughter was overcome by emotion in the aftermath of her loss, Vysochenko tried to fill in some of the blanks, noting that their hometown is currently part of the territory occupied by the Russian Army.
“It’s good here because the family is safe and our children have opportunities to grow and develop,” he said. “We do want to go back to Ukraine once the war is over.”
For now, the family has settled in Oceanport, with Vysochenko and his wife working as instructors at the IA Tennis Academy in Little Silver, where founder Yari Vaznenko is a Ukrainian national who Vysochenko knew from tennis circles back home.
“She is a phenomenal player, and very humble,” said Shore coach Jason Vastano, who will have Vyscochenko’s brother, a junior, on his team in the spring. “She just turned 14 so she’s a young freshman, with so much potential.”
In the state final, Vysochenko rallied after losing the first set, winning the first four games of the second set as she evened the match at a set apiece. But it was all Abalos in the final set winning the first five games en route to the championship.
“I just told myself to stay in it. we were both evenly matched skill wise and I knew it was going to be tough,” Abalos said. “But it all boiled down to who really wanted it in the end. And I guess today I just played better than her in the third set.”
And while Vysochenko fell short of gaining a state final, it appears the family will be a factor in New Jersey tennis for the next few years.
“Alina was the leader among Ukrainian young players, and my son is the same, second or third ranked player in Ukraine,” Vyscohenko said.