Sports
Girls Tennis Gears Up For County Playoffs
After finishing second in the division, senior-heavy Raiders looking to make deep playoff run.
The Raiders senior-heavy girls tennis team has earned a berth into the Section XI playoffs for the fourth consecutive year after a strong regular season campaign saw them finish 9-3 in Division III.
They drew the 10 seed and will host Ross High School later this afternoon. Should they advance, they'll travel to face Mercy on Tuesday. But head coach Steve Molinaro wasn't too keen on looking too far ahead.
"Every year our goal is to win the first round and then take it from there," he said.
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A pair of juniors and freshmen have paced the Raiders singles play success this season, as well. Juniors Brigid Logan and Tiffany Marroquin and freshmen Michele Stanczak and Emily Marge all were recognized as all-League players.
Logan has emerged as a go-to singles player for the Raiders this season. According to Molinaro, she was the difference in a number of narrow victories.
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"Brigid is someone who really came through for us this season," he said. "She would win a singles match and that would be the difference in a 4-3 match. She's the one person who consistently played well."
The girls will hardly have the weekend off, win or lose today. Hanna Lazio and Alicia Kreamer will be competing at the County Individual Tournament, defending their second consecutive Divisional Doubles crown along with Sydney Schandel and freshman Victoria Makulik, who finished second.
Lazio and Kreamer, both five-year varsity players, have paced the team to a 34-6 record over the past three seasons.
"I brought them up in eighth grade and we missed the playoffs that first year," said Molinaro. "But since then we won three consecutive divisional championships before finishing second this year."
All four girls were named all-County players, and will be playing for all-State honors this weekend. The tournament will take place at Smithtown East High School on Saturday afternoon. Should the girls advance, they'll compete in the semifinals and finals on Monday.
Seniors Kierstin Berwick and Cristina Valente also advanced to the quarterfinals of the divisional tournament and were recognized with all-Division honors.
