Oct,26,2022
Cold Spring Harbor captured its first Long Island title in program history on Tuesday afternoon as the Seahawks defeated Bayport-Blue Point 5-0 in the LI Small School Championship at Casamento Park in Bay Shore.
“I’m so proud of the girls. We all really wanted this, and we came out focused,” said Nicolette Loeffler. “This is the first time making it here to the Long Island championship, and we came out hungry today.”
Loeffler, the Seahawks’ first singles player, notched a 6-2, 6-1 victory on Tuesday, and it came soon after Kati Cotek posted a 6-0, 6-1 victory at second singles. Cotek’s win got the scoring started in the LI championship.
“It was great to be able to get the first win and sort of get things going for our team,” said Cotek. “I am very happy with the way I was able to play. I played aggressive and that worked in my favor, the shots were going in, it was a good day.”
After Cotek notched the first point of the day, and Loeffler continued her undefeated play in team competition with her first singles triumph, Cold Spring Harbor needed to win one of the three remaining courts to claim the LI title.
That victory would come from the first doubles pairing of Hailey Schulsinger & Kami Cotek, who clinched their team’s victory with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph.
“I think we were just trying to stay focused,” Shulsinger said of understanding there the overall score of the match was. “It’s such a great honor to be able to seal it, and we feel so accomplished in playing a big role in the win.”
Cotek added:
“We work really well together, and communicated very well, understanding where the other one was on the court. That helps a lot.”
Rounding out the scoring was a 6-4, 6-3 win from Veronica Walkin & Dylan Savarese at second doubles, and Brooke Winthrop's 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 win at third singles.
Cold Spring Harbor now moves into the semifinals of the next weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Team Championships where it will play Section V champion Honeoye Falls-Lima.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team, and we put it all out on the court this season,” Loeffler added. “We’re excited to go up to states, and we are just going to play hard. It’s our first time going to states so we feel like we have nothing to lose, and we’ll go out there and play our games.”
Cold Spring Harbor captains Nicolette Loeffler and Hailey Schulsinger with head coach Melissa McLees
