By Zachary Tomanelli
ITHACA, N.Y. -Lina Chang, captain of the Ithaca High School girls’ tennis team
admits she
has been spoiled. The senior hasn’t seen her team lose since her sophomore
year.
Chang said she hopes things stay that way when the team takes the court
in next week’s Southern Tier Athletic Conference championship. The Little Red
(12-0) will try to cap off its second consecutive undefeated season. According
to Chang, being perfect is something the members of the team take great pride
in.
“It has been very exciting,” Chang said. “It’s always fun, like at our
homecoming pep rally, when they announced the girls’ tennis team as being
undefeated, we all got riled up.”
Arthur Falkson, who has coached the Little Red since 2007, said the team
unexpectedly lost three starters to boarding school at the start of the year, and
a top doubles player moved out of the area. Because of this, Falkson said he
was unsure of what to expect as the season began. Needless to say, Falkson has
been impressed by his team’s performance.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised, especially by how well our doubles players
have performed,” Falkson said. “And our third singles player, Rebecca Gilovich
has only lost one match all season.”
But a much of the team’s success, he said, can be attributed to the
excellent play of Lucy and Mane Mehrabyan. The sisters are the top two singles
players on the team, and neither of them have lost a set all season. And
according to Chang, the sisters’ strong play takes pressure off of the rest of
team.
“Mane and Lucy, they always win all of their matches,” Chang said. “So we
know that if we don’t do as well, we definitely have people who will carry the
team.
Despite this, Falkson said he has tried to foster a sense of camraderie on
the team. And Chang said this year’s team has a special bond.
“I think our personalities all mesh together really well,” Chang said
Mikayla Bobrow, Chang’s doubles partner, said the team has used activities
outside of practice to build unity in what is traditionally thought of as an
individual sport.
“We did a car wash to raise money, and we are planning on doing a team
sleepover, to get everyone together,” Bobrow said.
The Little Red’s opponent in the STAC championship is still unknown.
Falkson said they are awaiting the winner of the other semifinal between
Sesquehanna Valley and Horseheads. The game date has also yet to be decided,
but Falkson said he expects it will not happen until next week.
Despite the importance of the match and their long layoff, Bobrow said the team
isn’t changing anything about its preparation.
“The entire season we have been trying to play our best, and we will keep
doing that.”
Thus far, that strategy has worked – to perfection.
