LI girls go far in state tennis championships
Shoreham-Wading River's Aimee Manfredo reacts as she wins her match against Eastport-South Manor's Jackie Bukzin during the Suffolk girls tennis individual final competition. (Oct. 21, 2013) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Shoreham-Wading River's Aimee Manfredo proved to be the top girls tennis player on Long Island this season, but unlike recent years, that wasn't enough to win a state singles championship.
A player from Long Island had won five of the last seven state singles titles, including the last two. But of the nine singles players and nine doubles pairs from Nassau and Suffolk and the three singles players and three doubles pairs representing the CHSAA at the girls tennis state championships in Latham this weekend, the third-seeded Manfredo was the only one to reach a semifinal.
Manfredo lost Sunday to No. 2 Sabrina Barisano of the Ursuline School, 6-1, 6-1, after beating Herricks' Taylor Cosme, the Nassau singles champion, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, in a thrilling quarterfinal match.
Manfredo will compete in a third-place match against No. 5 Olga Ostrovetsky of Wallkill at 9 a.m. Monday.
"It means a lot because it's the furthest I've ever gone," said Manfredo, a senior. "I felt really proud of myself. The first match today went three sets, so I was really tired in the semis, and my opponent just played really well."
In the quarterfinals, Manfredo beat Cosme in the first set, 6-3, but trailed 2-5 in the second before winning four consecutive games to go ahead 6-5. Manfredo had three match points in the next game, leading 40-15, but Cosme battled back and forced a tiebreaker at 6-6. Cosme trailed 3-5 in the tiebreaker but dug in and won it, 7-5, to even the match.
Cosme led 2-0 in the third set, but Manfredo won five consecutive games and eventually took the set 6-4 for the match.
"It was a really great experience, but I'm disappointed," said Cosme, a junior. "Aimee was solid and she grinded a lot, but I think I had it at my fingertips and it could have gone either way . . . Next year I want to win this entire thing."
In other quarterfinal matches Sunday, Ester Chikvashvili of Half Hollow Hills East lost to Barisano, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. In doubles, No. 7 Liz Kallenberg and Ally Linder of Port Washington lost to No. 2 Tomo Iwasaki and Alexa Goldberg of Edgemont, 7-5, 7-5, and No. 8 Katie Cirella and Rhea Malholtra of Syosset lost to No. 1 Ekim Buyuk and Diana King of Rye Neck, 6-2, 7-5. Buyuk and King will meet Iwasaki and Goldberg in the doubles final Monday.
In the consolation singles final, Nicole Koskovolis of Manhasset beat Jackie Bukzin of Eastport-South Manor, 8-6.
