In matchup of unbeaten teams, Syosset falls to Scarsdale in girls tennis state finals
Alex Ho of Syosset in semifinal doubles action against Bethlehem in the NYSPHSAA Tennis Championship at the Chase Center, Flushing Meadows, on Friday Nov. 5, 2021. Credit: Louis lanzano
This was no ending like the Syosset girls tennis team had experienced this season. Tears rolled down faces. Coach Shai Fisher choked up in the post-game huddle. There were hugs of consolation instead of celebration.
No team had been able to match Syosset this fall until it met Scarsdale of Section I in the NYSPHSAA Division 1 (large school) championship match Friday afternoon. In the morning, Syosset had trounced Bethlehem of Section II, 7-0 . But Scarsdale took it down to the last of the seven matches and won the state’s first girls team championship, 4-3, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.
Syosset (19-1) got three wins in doubles entries from Alex Ho and Rachel Lin at first doubles (7-5, 6-1), Sara Gao and Olivia Tiegerman at second doubles (6-3, 4-6, 10-5) and Mia Silverman and Manami Wakazono at third doubles (6-3, 6-2). But it scored no victories in three singles matches.
With the score tied 3-3 only the fourth doubles match was still going. Syosset’s team of senior Amanda Huang and junior Abby Glenn were trying to shake off losing the first set in a 7-3 tiebreaker – just like their comeback win proved the difference in beating Port Washington for the Nassau County title – but they couldn’t quite manage it. Natasha Pereira and Kay Cottrell took the second set, 6-3, to win it for the Raiders (19-0).
"We didn’t know for sure it was [down to] us, but you can sort of guess from the cheering you hear from the other courts and the people [watching]," said Huang, who teamed with Glenn for a 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) semifinal win. "We walk away with no regrets. We gave it our all."
Syosset looked deep and talented from the start of the season but Fisher said "they started to realize they had something special and tell themselves ‘we are that good’ and things began to roll."
"We’ve been underdogs in other years, but this is the strongest we’ve been," said senior Alexa Brecher, who had a 6-3, 6-2 win at second singles in the semifinals. "We won tough close ones and realized being here for this match was possible. We didn’t win, but we should be proud of how we performed.
"This match was close enough to go either way. On a different day it might have."
The pairings of Ho and Lin, Gao and Tiegerman, Silverman and Wakazono and Huang and Glenn were paramount to Syosset’s success this season. Fisher said that chemistry helped form the decisions about the pairings and from there the duos developed tactics to adjust to any situation.
Ho and Lin won their semifinal, 6-3, 6-3, and looked especially strong in the championship match. They were never better than with Lin returning shots like a metronome and Ho making brilliant stabs at the net in the second set of their finals win.
"I think we saved our best for last," Ho said, "and to do it in an atmosphere like this, where the greats play, was special."
Fisher was asked how he will look at this Syosset team in the days and months ahead, even though it came up one win short of perfection. He replied "they are our champions and they played like a true team."
NYSPHSAA DIVISION 1 GIRLS TENNIS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
(at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens)
Semifinals: Syosset 7, Bethlehem 0
First singles: Kaushik (S) def. Phang (B), 6-1, 6-1; Second singles: Brecher (S) def. Peles (B) 6-3, 6-2; Third singles: Mukherjee (S) def. Patil (B) 6-3, 6-3; First Doubles: Ho and Lin (S) def. Pattison and Hongalgi 6-3, 6-3; Second doubles: Gao and Tiegerman (S) def. Brown and Kogut (B) 6-2, 6-3; Third doubles: Silverman and Wakazono (S) def. Amirbekian and N. Huli (B) 6-1, 6-0; Fouth doubles; Glenn and Huang (S) def. S. Huli and Davenport (B) 6-2, 7-6 (7-0).
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.
