Tennis controversy: Unforced error by administrator causes confusion, frustration in Suffolk finals
Controversy surrounds the end of the high school girls tennis season after an adminstrative error. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
An administrative error has thrown the Suffolk County girls tennis individual championships into a state of controversy, leaving players and coaches from multiple teams frustrated.
Section XI girls tennis coordinator Mark Mensch made the error when he informed tournament participants that Suffolk would be sending three singles entries and four doubles entries to the state championships, to be held in Schenectady Oct. 26-28. Suffolk is allotted four singles entries and only three doubles entries.
“There was an error on my part,” Mensch said. “And I feel terrible about this.”
The championship and third-place matches are to be played Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Eastern Athletic Club in Blue Point, but the landscape is dramatically changed from how it looked when the second of three days in the tournament ended on Friday.
Two doubles teams that believed they had clinched trips to Schenectady – from Bayport-Blue Point and Harborfields – and likely wouldn’t have played on Sunday, need to win one of two matches to make it. Another that believed it was in – from Sayville – has one must-win match to reach the state tournament. The singles side of the county tournament also is affected.
The situation in the singles draw is simple to understand: Lola Dangin of Ross School and Isabella Spilotros of Smithtown West – who were thought to be playing the third-place match Sunday for the final Section XI spot in the state tournament – have both qualified for the state draw.
The doubles situation is far more messy.
When the doubles semifinals began Friday, all four remaining entries were told by Mensch they had clinched a trip to Schenectady. The Westhampton duo of Matilda Buchen and Julia Stabile, the top seed and defending county champions, won in straight sets over Sayville’s pairing of Meredith Albertelli and Kylie Person. Bayport-Blue Point’s Emilia Romano and Evie Romano were in the middle of their semifinal against Aya Deckman and Josie Rudloff of Harborfields when Deckman rolled an ankle. The duo thought they already were going upstate and opted not to continue the match.
“The decision was to not go on, get healthy for the (team) playoffs next week and the state (doubles tournament),” Harborfields coach Jimmy Delevante said. “They were going to be going to states anyway.”
Mensch’s error was discovered Friday night and Delevante immediately made an appeal because, he said, “if they’d known the loser of the (third-place) match on Sunday would not go to states, they would have finished the match.”
Deckman and Rudloff had won the first set of the semifinal against the Romanos, but the Romanos were up 5-1 and serving for the set when the Harborfields pair stopped the match.
The standard section contingent to the state tournament is three entries in singles and three in doubles. Extra qualifiers are needed to round out the 32-entry draw each year and the chance to send a fourth entry in singles or doubles rotates through the sections with each passing year. Mensch explained that Section VII became part of the rotation in 2022 and that he was following the order that had been laid out before that.
“When Section VII was added, it changed the order and I didn’t make the change,” Mensch said.
The Tornadoes and Phantoms will finish their semifinal Sunday before the championship and third-place matches. The winner earns a spot in Schenectady and the loser will have to beat Sayville in the third place match to get a spot in the state tournament.
There was an appeal that followed the decision to complete the match. Bayport-Blue Point’s position was that the time allowed for an injury timeout had elapsed and, as Phantoms coach Keith Scharf pointed out, "Their injured player has had two days to recover for the completion of the match.”
Bayport-Blue Point athletic director Tim Mullins said in a text message that Section XI informed him “a decision has been made and the . . . match will resume [Sunday]."
“My girls aren’t the type to sit out a match, but they’ve been put in an unfair situation,” Scharf said. “This situation really messes with the minds of a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old. . . . Much more is on the line in this (semifinal) match now.”
The Sayville tandem of Albertelli and Person also have been thrust into a must-win match they never expected they’d have to play.
“After they won (a quarterfinal), they were excited they’d made the state tournament,” Sayville coach Steve Aronsen said. “There were hugs and tears of joy and whatnot.”
Mensch told Albertelli’s and Person’s parents about the details for competing in the state tournament – an event their daughters now may not be attending.
“I know there are people who are upset, the Sayville team especially” Mensch said. “They now have to wait through the (completion) match before they know who they play and will be under pressure.
“It was a regrettable mistake and I feel awful about it,” he added.
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.
