Port Washington's Ellie Ross and Dasha Perfiliev are state doubles champions
Port Washington's Ellie Ross follows through on her serve with Dasha Perfiliev at the net against Syosett's Rachel Lin and Alexa Brecher during the doubles final at the Nassau High School girls tennis individual singles and doubles finals at Eisenhower Park on Saturday, April 17, 2021. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan/Joseph D. Sullivan
Ellie Ross and Dasha Perfiliev sat down with their coach Shane Helfner after the first set of their girls tennis state championship doubles match in Schenectady last week and knew they had to regroup.
The Port Washington duo had cruised into the final, dropping only four games in their previous three matches. They lost only five games en route to winning the Nassau tournament a few weeks prior.
"That was the first time they had any resistance," Helfner said. "It was a character check, and they had to dig deep and find a way to win."
And after a quick strategy change they did just that, going on to defeat Kelly Barnes and Maya Clinard of Orchard Park, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, to claim the state title on October 30.
"They both have this competitive drive," Helfner said. "You can teach some things but sometimes players just have that grit. They fear losing and they want to be successful whatever it takes."
It took implementing the Australian doubles formation, a tactic that has the net player setting up in the middle of the court and in front of the server.
"It forces the opponent to have to go down the line and not hit cross court," Helfner said. "It leaves less court area and it makes them have to think a little bit. We taught it to the whole team, but we weren’t planning on using it but had it just in case."
The change proved effective, and after falling behind 5-0 in the first set the top-seeded Port Washington duo lost only five games the rest of the match to capture the second girls tennis state championship in Port Washington history.
Megan and Katie Zebroski captured the doubles championship for the Vikings in 2001.
"Having these girls at the top of our lineup is a wonderful thing," Helfner said. "There’s no question they carried our team. After winning the county doubles title last season and not being able to go upstate I felt bad. Being able to stay in the hotel and go up to represent your school, you can’t replicate that anywhere else. And to win it all is special."
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
