Section XI confirms Ross player's eligibility; girls tennis final vs. Bayport-Blue Point will be Friday
The Suffolk County girls tennis small school team championship match that was scheduled to for Tuesday has been moved to Friday and top-seeded Bayport-Blue Point will face No. 2 Ross, a matchup that was decided off the court on Monday night.
Section XI, the governing body for school sports in the county, needed to render a decision about whether Ross or Shoreham-Wading River would face the three-time defending champion Phantoms. Ross defeated the Wildcats in a semifinal last week. Then the eligibility of one of the Ravens players was contested.
At issue was whether the player met the state requirements to compete in postseason play by representing her school in six matches. A player doesn’t have to play in the match, only “attend the match, be in uniform and be prepared to play,” explained Section XI tennis coordinator Mark Mensch.
“We got all the documents from Ross tonight and they were reviewed. The player in question met the state requirements,” Mensch said Monday night. “She was in the book for the first four matches before leaving for [a short time] . . . She didn’t crack the [starting] lineup but she didn’t have to. And she played in three after she came back. She met the state ‘representation’ rules.”
“I am very happy for our girls,” Ravens coach Vinicius Carmo said. “They deserve to be playing and we’re looking forward to it."
Earlier in the day, Section XI executive director Tom Combs said the review should not be called an “appeal” by Ross, adding, “No decision has been made as to who advances to the championship match.”
BBP’s opponent had been in question since Friday and Carmo didn’t even tell his players anything was hanging in the balance.
“There was no reason to talk about it until something was decided and I didn’t want the possibility [that] we wouldn’t play in their heads or be distracting them,” Carmo said. “They should be totally focused for the match.”
BBP faces Ross at 2 p.m. Friday at Smithtown East.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.