Friends Academy's Isabella Sha wins second Nassau tennis title
Isabella Sha of Friends Academy powers her return to Nicolette Loeffler of Cold Spring Harbor at the Nassau girls tennis finals on Sunday, October 16, 2022 at Eisenhower Park. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Once Isabella Sha found her rhythm, there was no stopping her.
After trailing 3-0 in the first set, the top-seeded Friends Academy senior got on a roll and defeated No. 2 Nicolette Loeffler of Cold Spring Harbor 7-5, 6-1 to claim her second straight Nassau girls tennis individual title Sunday at Eisenhower Park.
Sha struggled early in the first set with her forehand, as she sent several shots too long.
“I just reminded myself to move my feet and stay down,” Sha said. “I just had to shake off some nerves and coldness.”
“She’s a dream for a coach,” Sha’s coach, Owen Kassimir added. “She’s a great player, but she listens. Anything I say to help, she’ll make the change and she did that the whole match.”
Sha and Loeffler were already familiar with each other entering the match. Sha defeated Loeffler in straight sets in last year’s title match, but they met again earlier this season.
Cold Spring Harbor faced Friends Academy in a team meet on Sept. 9, and Loeffler defeated Sha 6-0, 6-4.
Sha was looking forward to a rematch when the two teams met again on Sept. 28, but Loeffler was out due to an illness.
“I didn’t perform my best in that first match,” Sha said. “But it was okay, I just shook it off and wanted to play my best today.”
After placing fourth at last year’s state tournament, Sha will look to capture her first state championship in Schenectady from Oct. 27-29.
“I’m definitely focused on winning a state title,” Sha said. “It’s my last season, so I’m hoping for the best.”
On the doubles side of the tournament, last year’s state champions went back to their winning ways.
Top-seeded Dasha Perfiliev and Ellie Ross of Port Washington defeated No. 3 Kira Diaz and Madison Lee of Great Neck South 6-2, 6-3 to claim their third consecutive Nassau County championship.
Perfiliev and Ross had trouble putting the match away, as they found themselves at match point six times in the second set. But it just made the victory that much sweeter when they finally won it.
“That was a stressful way to end the match,” Perfiliev said. “We pulled it out on the sixth one, that’s all that matters.”
The seniors have been playing together for three years and have only gotten better with time, despite having the added pressure to repeat as champions the last two years.
“We’ve been spending time together outside of our school practices to make sure we would be able to pull through today,” Ross said.
“As we’ve played together more, we’ve gotten to know each other’s games better and our communication has gotten much better,” Perfiliev added.
Each player made improvements this year, as Ross’ serve was more consistent and Perfiliev strengthened her volleys and play at the net.
“They’re always at the top of their game, but everything is a little better each year,” coach Shane Helfner said. “Everything is more fine-tuned from year to year. Hopefully, that helps them defend their state title.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
