Girls tennis: Section 1 teams dominate again at New York state championships
The hardest thing in team sports might be defending a championship. Scarsdale and Byram Hills were both trying to accomplish that when the NYSPHSAA held its team competition Friday at the USTA Billie King National Tennis Center in Queens.
Both the Raiders, playing in Division 1, and the Bobcats, in Division 2, defended their state championships almost a week after Section 1 captured both individual singles and doubles championships.
Scarsdale defeated Section 8's Port Washington to repeat as Division 1 champ and Byram Hills defeated Section 8's Cold Spring Harbor to go back-to-back in Division 2.
Scarsdale repeats after a tough semifinal match
Being the team that has won before and trying to defend brings its own challenges. The Raiders faced those Friday.
But they capped their bid for a repeat by defeating Section 8's Port Washington 7-0 and completing a perfect 20-0 season.
"I'm so happy," senior captain Natalie Hu told the NYSPHSAA after the finals. "A lot of the season has been leading up to this. We felt like we could do it. It's amazing to know that we did do it. Being to celebrate with the team is the best way to end the season."
According to Raiders coach Jennifer Roane, the team had to overcome one player being under the weather and another injuring her ankle. She was proud of the way the team performed in not just the finals, but in the semifinals as well.
"It feels wonderful to be the state champs for a second time," Roane said. "This is a very special group of girls. They support each other."
The semifinal match for the Raiders was a little tougher than a year ago, but they still defeated Section 2's Bethlehem 6-1 to advance.
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Byram Hills won again but it wasn’t easy
The road for Byram Hills to defend their Division 2 title wasn’t smooth sailing.
The Bobcats' top single player, senior Chloe Bernstein, who last weekend won the state doubles title with partner Jenna Kleynerman, had dropped her match in straight sets. The Bobcats led in the match overall but Kleynerman and Anika Bobra were both down in the second set of their respective singles matches.
However, both players rallied to win their second set in a tiebreaker and eventually propelled the Bobcats to the championship. They defeated Section 8’s Cold Spring Harbor 4-1.
Bernstein was proud of the team repeating as state champions.
“This means so much to me,” Bernstein told NYSPHSAA after the finals. ”After winning the individual state (doubles) tournament last weekend, I was obviously very happy but winning something like this as a team just feels so amazing in a different way.”
In Bernstein’s eyes, the team’s chemistry helped propel the Bobcats to the win.
“Everyone was focused on their matches, but I think we had that strong spirit off the court,” Bernstein said. ”Everyone that wasn’t playing was very engaged, cheering on the girls who were playing. That community on our team is something that makes our team stand out. I think everyone knew how important matches were, and because of that everyone gave it their all.”
In the semifinals, the Bobcats had swept Section 2’s Ichabod Crane 5-0 to advance to the finals.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls tennis: Scarsdale and Byram Hills repeat as NY state champions
