Islip Beats Mattituck To Set Up Showdown With Floyd

October 20, 2016 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff

The Islip Buccaneers are one of the younger teams in Suffolk County this year with no seniors on the roster. While many teams comprised of mainly underclassmen would look at this season as a way to gain experience and build for future seasons, the Islip girls are ready to win now.

Led by first singles player Maddie Germano, who is only a freshman, Islip was able to secure the fifth seed in the Suffolk County Team Playoffs and received a first round bye.  

On Wednesday, Islip began their playoff run at home against Mattituck High School.  The first win of the day came from their first doubles team as juniors Grace Klomp and Nicole Arey won 6-1, 6-1. 

"We played well today," said Arey. "We set each other up and put everything away at the net."

Klomp added: "We have been playing together for awhile now and we are best friends outside of tennis so the chemistry on-court is natural. " 

Second and third Doubles also won in straight sets for Islip. The second doubles team of Emily Berger and Delaney Hardekopfp only lost one game in their victory winning 6-1, 6-0. According to Berger, their strategy was to play consistently and wait for their opportunities. 

"We played the ball safe and when we had the chance we attacked the ball."

According to Hardekopfp the duo has continued to improve all season and is now playing their best tennis: " I think we played well. We got a lot better since the beginning of the season."

At third doubles, Kristen Scheidel and Kate Berger won 6-3, 6-2.

"Teamwork was our key to success today. We communicated really well." said Scheidel. "We had a lot of down the line shots.  We always like to lob it up to each other so the other girl can slam it. "

Darienne Rodgers picked up a win for Islip in 4th Singles. Rodgers won 6-0, 6-0 and was happy with how she played saying.

"I was just trying to keep the ball in play and not try to do anything fancy,' said Rodgers. "We’re excited to for the chance to play Floyd again." 

Although they are young, this are a close knit group of girls many of whom have grown up together and played together for years so there is a comfort in how they team-up and a large amount of support for each other.  Overall Islip won 5-2 and now heads to William Floyd for a Quarterfinal matchup today. Floyd is the only team to have beaten Islip so far this season, but that was back in early September. The winner will play either top seeded Commack or ninth seeded Sayville in the semifinals on Friday.

Islip moves on to play Floyd, who was a 7-0 winner over Connetquot on Wednesday. The two teams met earlier in the season in a 5-2 Floyd victory.
 

The defending Suffolk County champion Thunderbirds of Hills East coasted into the quarterfinals with a 6-1 win over Southampton, setting up a matchup with sixth-seed Harborfields. The Tornadoes defeated Bayport-Blue Point 6-1 on Wednesday, led by Lauren Hutton’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Olivia Ingrassia at first singles.

Sayville edged East Hampton 4-3 in a tight Round of 16 showdown. Camryn Schilling and Rebecca Mohrmann beat Raquel Burns and Samantha Dossantos 6-2, 6-2 at third doubles to lead the way.

The Golden Flashes move on to play top-seed Commack, who got past Mercy on Wednesday.

The final quarterfinal matchup in Suffolk will put Ward Melville against Westhampton. Ward Melville shut out Half Hollow Hills West 7-0, anchored by Shannon Sartain and Julia Hoffman 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Talia Nierman and Najah Williams at third doubles.

Westhampton upset Smithtown East 5-2 to book its spot in the final eight, as Emma Bender beat Julianna Schulz 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-1 at first singles to lead the way.

Below is the updated Suffolk bracket:


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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