Heron Tennis Advances to Finals
24 September 2012 Heron Tennis Advances to Finals
William Smith College senior Kiara Ocasio and sophomore Teru Greene advanced all the way to the championship doubles final in the 2012 USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships held at the HWS Tennis Center and Bristol Field House this weekend. They became this first ever Herons under the guidance of Chip Fishback to make it to the doubles championship final.
The only other Heron tennis player under Coach Fishback to advance to a USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championship final was Chelsea Rauck 09. She made it to the championship singles final as a first-year in 2005.
Five William Smith tennis players represented the Herons in the regional championships this weekend. First-year Charlotte Federowicz, senior Hallsey Leighton and sophomore Haley Wolf played in the singles brackets, while and Leighton and Wolf as well as Greene and Ocasio represented the Herons in doubles.
Greene and Ocasio, the No. 4 seed in the championship doubles bracket, fell to the No. 2 seed, Ava Sadeghi and Samantha Schapiro of Vassar, 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles title match. The Heron pair started the tournament with an 8-4 first round victory over the University of Rochesters Molly Goodman and Rachel Suresky. In the second round, the Greene and Ocasio topped Vassars Lauren Staffer and Winifred Yeates 8-3. The Herons advanced to the quarterfinals with an 8-4 triumph over Jasmine Muniz-Cadorette and Deboarah Wu of the College of New Jersey. In the semis, Greene and Ocasio bested the Stevens pair of Jessica Bourque and Lisa Tessitore 8-5 for a spot in the championship match.
Vassars Sadeghi was also the singles champion, defeating Skidmores Nataly Mendoza 7-6, 6-4 in the title match. It is the second straight year that she has won the championship singles bracket. Sadeghi and her doubles partner, Schapiro, will advance to the USTA/ITA Small College Championships, scheduled for Oct. 11-14 in Mobile, Ala.
Wolf won her first round singles match, defeating Hamiltons Mira Khanna 8-2. In the second round, Wolf fell to the brackets No. 8 seed, Skidmores Lee Ford 8-2. Federowicz was edged by NYUs Mariella Tzakis 8-5 in her first round match, and Leighton dropped her first round match to St. Lawrences Olivia Arroyo 8-0. Leighton rallied to win her consolation match, topping Bards Julia DeFabo 8-2 on Sunday.
Leighton and Wolf cruised to an 8-1 first round win over Cortlands Loraine Jelinek and Jean Martinez, but fell to the eventual champions, Sadeghi and Schapiro, 8-2 in the second round.
The Herons will be back on the courts on Sunday, Sept. 30, when they take on St. John Fisher at 1 p.m.