Mepham Girls Tennis Defeats Hicksville in Semifinals

The Mepham Lady Pirates advanced to the Conference III Finals after a convincing win over the visiting Hicksville Comets. The undefeated Lady Pirates took control of their doubles matches with victories from all four pairs. Mepham won five of its seven matches on the day. 

In singles competition, the Lady Pirates seemed to have some trouble taking advantage of key opportunities, as the team dropped two of its three matches. Shayna Lupu easily defeated her opponent and won in straight sets, 6-3 6-3. Her victory came off sound fundamentals that she worked on each day in practice.

"We need to keep with our work regiment, it seems to be working," Mepham coach Claire Cohen said.

Corryn Chaimowitz was one of the singles players who fell just short of a victory on the day. She won her first set, 7- 5, but lost her composure and failed to convert in her next two sets. 

Cohen said she expects her girls to win game after game, including in the finals.

"We expect to win, we haven't lost a game yet," she said.

With such high expectations it's a good thing Mepham has the team to back it up. Despite the losses in singles on Monday, the Lady Pirates coasted past the Comets in doubles.

Coming off a straight-set victory in last week's match against Plainedge, the dynamic duo of Rachel Gordon and Alison Ferris won in straight sets again, 6-2, 6-0.

When asked how the Lady Pirates will prepare for the Conference III Finals, Cohen simply said, "We'll play like we practice, since the best practice is against someone else".

Tess Larsen and Ilana Maurer won the last match of the day by winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

The Lady Pirates and Cohen know that they have what it takes to win game after game, but will need to play sound tennis in order to win against an equally as fierce MacArthur team.

Mepham will take on the MacArthur Generals today, at 4:00 p.m. at Garden City High School.

Singles

Lena Diller (Sub: Michele Moryc) – 0-6, 0-6

Corryn Chaimowitz – 7-5, 1-6, 2-6

Shayna Lupu – 6-3, 6-3

Doubles

Mollie Bienstock/Shannen Gaffney – 7-5, 6-1

Alison Ferris/Rachel Gordon – 6-2, 6-0

Julia Tolin/Teresa Winger – 6-3, 6-3

Tess Larsen/Ilana Maurer – 6-4, 6-2