Hungry Great Neck North looks strong in victory
Great Neck North's Amy Delman defeated Manhasset's Madeline Clinton during a Nassau girls tennis match at Manhasset on Sept. 18, 2017. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Great Neck North served up success and defeated Manhasset, 5-2, in a matchup of two of Nassau’s top girls tennis teams on Monday afternoon.
Visiting GNN took all three singles matches and first and fourth doubles in the Nassau I match. They dropped the second and third doubles matches, which both went to a tiebreaker.
“I’m very proud of the team,” coach Mike Kazin said. “They might have lost a couple of close matches but overall we came through.”
In first singles, Amy Delman defeated Madeline Clinton, 7-6, 6-2.
Last year, Delman earned third place in the county individual tournament as a freshman and reached the round of 16 in the state competition. Senior Clinton recorded a third-place finish in the doubles tournament last season.
“I’m working on my serve now, so hopefully I can keep the serve throughout the season,” Delman said of her strength in the win. “I think a weakness was my movement. I was not moving very well today, but I will be working on that and hopefully moving better.”
Freshman Alina Lyakhov, who has been a member of the varsity since eighth grade, took second singles over senior Briana Rienzi, 6-4, 6-1. Freshman Alyssa Ghassabian defeated junior Gina Frankis, 6-1, 6-0, in third singles.
“I think during the match I stayed as consistent as I could,” said Ghassabian, who has been on the varsity since seventh grade. “I really stayed on the positive side and I thought point-by-point and I just never gave up. We got into some long rallies, but I think I was able to control most of those points.”
Freshman Margaret Haykin and senior Ashley Yu earned a win in first doubles. In third doubles, Manhasset junior Lil Creem and freshman Emily Ma defeated senior Shannon Nassi and freshman Lauren Yu Brook in a match that featured two tiebreakers.
Great Neck North’s young roster is looking to return to the county final this season, after placing second and falling to Friends Academy last fall.
“Hopefully this year we can come out on top,” Delman said.
