Huntington Girls’ Tennis Wins Playoff Match to Advance

An exceptional mix of seniors and underclassmen propelled the Huntington varsity girls’ tennis team to an exciting 7-0 victory over visiting Deer Park in the opening round of the Section XI playoffs on Wednesday afternoon at the Coach Cuppernull Courts complex.

Seeded No. 11, the Blue Devils overwhelmed No. 22 Deer Park as the meet played out under brilliant sunshine and above average temperatures. Huntington will now advance to play at No. 6 Ward Melville next Tuesday afternoon.

The Blue Devils were impressive, which pleased head coach Jamie Fishlow who sent four young players onto the court for the crucial singles matches.

Seventh grade No. 1 singles Janita Files won 6-3, 6-4. Freshman No. 2 singles Mia Kaufman coasted to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Playing in the No. 3 singles slot, eighth grader Amanda Ganley won easily, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Isabella Palacios battled her way to a 6-4, 6-2 win in No. 4 singles.

Huntington’s three doubles teams were equally perfect. Seniors Kate Balm and McKenna Buffa won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Seniors Anna Bell Young and Anna Larson captured a 6-0, 6-0 victory in No. 2 doubles. Freshman Claire Parks and senior Daniela Luca played to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles.

“We all played a really solid match,” Buffa said. “This was a good warmup for our second round playoff meet next week against Ward Melville.”

The victory improved the Blue Devils’ record to 9-5 this fall. “I think we played extremely well as we collectively won 7-0, which allows us to advance to the second round of playoffs,” Luca said. “I’m super proud of the improvement we showed this season. We were really motivated going into the first round of playoffs and hopefully we can get past the second round.”