May 9, 2008
Cards clip New Canaan girls' tennis
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The days and hours leading up to a girls’ tennis match between the Greenwich Cardinals and New Canaan Rams are filled with anticipation and perhaps a little nervousness for the players.
The teams have clearly established themselves as the class of the FCIAC and so the clash of the titans is one which is circled on the calendars from day one of the preseason.
Greenwich High School Head Coach Betsy Underhill summed up the feeling of the rivalry in one word.
“Excitement,” Underhill said. “We knew it was going to be a great competitive match. We need more of these. I wish we could play them almost every week because it fires everybody up and it makes you a better player. Unfortunately with our league, the depth isn’t there, but both these teams have the depth. We were really looking forward to this match and it didn’t disappoint.”
That much is certain.
Each team was missing one of its top stars — New Canaan’s No. 1 singles player Tina Tehrani is out with an ankle injury and Greenwich’s No. 1 doubles player Luisa Errichetti is out with an eye infection — but the Rams and Cards still managed to deliver another classic.
When Greenwich’s No. 3 doubles team of Leah Tagliarino and Sophie Vos wrapped up their match against New Canaan’s Kimmie Glerum and Jen Popper with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win, the Cards had put the wraps on another win over their rivals, this time by the score of 4-3.
The loss was the first of the season for New Canaan (11-1), while Greenwich (13-0) stayed perfect. But beyond the records was the fact that these matches stand on their own as championship showdowns.
“Greenwich is always our toughest match and we know that they come to play,” New Canaan co-captain Kasey Newton said. “It always comes down to the last match — whoever is left on the court is going to decide it.
“It’s a totally different feeling heading into this match than any other match because you know how good they are. You get excited because it means more to beat a team this good. I guess it depends on the day and hopefully next time we play them we’ll come out on top.”
“It’s very special for us because New Canaan is our biggest rival,” Greenwich’s No. 1 singles player Marie Watanabe said. “We were all really excited about this game and we all prepared well. We were both undefeated, so some of us were nervous, but personally I enjoy playing this New Canaan team because they’re so good.”
New Canaan Head Coach Gail Overbeck was a bit nervous coming into the match, especially since her No. 1 singles player was on the sidelines cheering on her teammates instead of out on the court playing.
“There was definitely excitement and even a little angst, too,” Overbeck said. “Especially since we didn’t have Tina. I felt we could definitely thought we could have beaten them with Tina in good health.
“I was a little anxious because there was an awful lot of pressure going in there with three freshmen playing. That third doubles match was resting on a freshman’s shoulders and that’s tough. They did well in the second set and in the third set, it was one game that changed everything, so it was really close. Greenwich is a really good team and there’s a lot of depth there.”
Watanabe and Tehrani had three epic battles last season with Watanabe winning the first match and Tehrani taking the next two, including a three-set win at the FCIAC championship, which was eventually taken by Greenwich, 5-2.
With Tehrani sidelined, Watanabe rolled to a quick 6-0, 6-0 victory against Lauren Ambler.
The Cardinals were strong in the singles matches, taking three of the four spots. In addition to Watanabe’s win, Greenwich took points at No. 3, as Meghan Hayden defeated Caitlin Gallagher 6-2, 6-4, and at No. 4, as Kelsey Shea defeated Katie DeWaele 6-3, 6-3.
New Canaan got its one singles point at No. 2, with Katie Mannelly battling past Jessica Ertel 7-5, 6-1.
The No. 1 doubles match had the same feel as No. 1 singles. Errichetti and Beth O’Brien are the defending State Open doubles champs and haven’t lost since 2006.
But with Errichetti out, New Canaan’s Sara Willett and Alyssa Baker won fairly easily, beating O’Brien and Andrea Carlsson 6-2, 6-0.
No. 2 doubles went to three sets with the Rams’ Newton and Mer Barcia overcoming some early struggles and a 4-1 deficit in the first set to win 6-4, 7-5, against Emily Niehaus and Annie Rosencranz.
“Our match, starting off, we were a few games behind and we just needed to pull ourselves together,” Newton said. “They’re a very good team, so Mer and I struggled a little bit at first but eventually we pulled ourselves together. We’re used to playing together so we know how to pump each other up and we know what to tell each other. We can pick out the other teams strengths and weaknesses pretty quickly and we act on that.”
“They’re playing really well,” Overbeck said. “They’ve only lost one match all year and they’ve just been great. That was a good win for them because they were all seniors out there, it was close and they pulled it through.
That left No. 3 doubles in the spotlight victory and Greenwich came away with a tough three-set win to take the match.
The teams won’t have much longer to wait until their next match-up, as the FCIAC tournament begins next Thursday with the finals slated for Wednesday, May 21 in Wilton.
Underhill has no doubt who she’ll see opposite the Cardinals.
“There’s nobody else in the league that can fill that spot,” she said, “so we will be facing them again in the finals, for sure.”
New Canaan got a surprise challenge from Fairfield-Warde (7-5) before pulling out a 4-3 victory Monday in Fairfield.
The teams split the four singles matches, with Mannelly defeating Christie Schneider 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2, and Gallagher defeating Tara Babushkia 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3.
Warde’s points came at No. 1, where Haley Wall defeated Ambler 7-6 (11-9), 7-5, and at N. 4, where Haley Smola defeated DeWaele 6-2, 6-1.
At No. 2 doubles, Warde’s Lauren Ball and Allison Schneider edged Newton and Barcia 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 (10-8), but New Canaan pulled out the other two doubles matches for the match victory.
At No. 1, Willett and Baker defeated Jen Weiss and Emily Weiner 6-0, 6-2, and at No. 3, Glerum and Popper defeated Margot Majasevit and Mel Quinn 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
Tuesday’s match against Stamford (2-10) was a bit easier as the Rams pitched a 7-0 shutout. In singles, Ambler won 6-1, 6-1; Mannelly won 6-0, 6-1; Gallagher won 6-0, 6-0 and Popper won 6-4, 6-4.
In doubles, Willett and Baker won 6-0, 6-0; Newton and Barcia won 6-0, 6-1; and Bri and Kirsten O’Haver won 6-1, 6-1.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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