Commack's Risha Sen, Madison DeCicco win at second doubles to key Suffolk girls tennis crown
Risha Sen, left, and Madison DeCicco of Commack moments after helping clinch the Suffolk girls tennis large school team title on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026 in Shoreham. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Heading into the Suffolk large school championship, Commack girls tennis coach Joe Pugh said he knew the doubles slate would be a challenge. But, if anybody could pull off a win, it would be Risha Sen and Madison DeCicco.
The pair proved him right. Sen and DeCicco defeated Rylie Weigand and Gianna Martin, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, at second doubles to earn the No. 4 Cougars a 4-3 win over second-seeded Floyd on Friday at Shoreham-Wading River.
“Even when we gave up a couple points here and there, they never wavered,” Pugh said. “They mixed it up, they responded, it was beautiful. I think when [Floyd] maybe got a little tight, we just took over.”
The win marks Commack’s first county title since 2023 and third in program history. The Cougars will next face Port Washington for the Long Island championship at noon Saturday at Shoreham-Wading River.
Sen said the tightly contested match got easier as she and DeCicco settled into it, but that the excitement of winning a championship is still beyond words.
“It hasn’t even registered for me yet,” Sen said. “We just started to get more confident and eased into the match as it went on.”
After dropping the first set, DeCicco said a clear head and steady play became key. The second set remained a tight matchup before the Commack pair ran away with it in the third.
“We kept re-strategizing every time we went back to our coach between sets,” DeCicco said. “Honestly, we had to switch it up a lot during this match. The mindset was just to keep going and hope for the best.”
Commack swept the singles slate, with Katelyn Cloughen and Camryn Kawasaki each claiming 6-1, 6-0 wins over their opponents at first and second singles.
Floyd doubles teams Anabel and Lydia Van Cott, Tatianna Sanchez and Emma Drees and Ava Asendorf and Madison Hodgson each earned a win at first, third and fourth doubles before Commack’s Kianna Falco tied the match at three with a win at third singles.
And, with the championship on the line, it was second doubles who pulled it off. Commack improved to 13-2 and Floyd finished its season 16-4.
“I just tell the girls over and over that it’s any given day,” Pugh said. “We had some battles coming into this match and I always say the same things: Go out there and play your best tennis. Just give everything you’ve got and whatever happens, happens. Just leave it on the court.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
