Forman, Perfiliev Clinch Port Washington’s Nassau County Title

October 28, 2019 | By Brian Coleman
Port Washington

 

For the last few years, no tennis team on Long Island has been more dominant than the girls from Port Washington. The Vikings proved that once again on Friday afternoon, winning the Nassau County championship with a 7-0 win over Great Neck North at Eisenhower Park.

“Even though the score was 7-0, it was a really close match,” said Port Washington head coach Shane Helfner. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a tight match, and the score isn’t indicative of how close the match really was. But the fact that we got seven points just shows the kind of depth we have, and how hard it is for teams to try and get points from top to bottom.”

Click Here to see more photos from the 2019 Nassau County Girls Championship

The first point that the Vikings got on the afternoon came from the third doubles duo of Casey Fanous and Samantha Radinsky, who won 6-1, 6-1 over Lauren Yu and Barrett Kanter. Soon after, Ellie Ross defeated Alyssa Ghassabian 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, and Andrea Martinez de los Rios notched a 6-3, 6-1 win at second singles, putting their team into a commanding lead.

Needing just one court to clinch the county title, Charlotte Forman and Dasha Perfiliev were seeking to close out their first doubles match against Margaret Haykin and Katharine Tang. Up 6-5 in the second set, Forman was serving but quickly fell behind 0-30 on her service game.

Forman dug in, though, delivering some clutch serves to fight back in the game, and the duo closed out their win and the team’s county championship with a put-away volley by Perfiliev on match point.

Dasha Perfiliev (left) and Charlotte Forman (right) embrace after winning their match at first doubles which clinched the county title for Port Washington

 

“I didn’t even realize we were the deciding match, I was just so in the zone and when that happens you have the mentality that you’re not going to lose this point, not going to lose this game or match,” said Forman. “When you think about it that way it really helps you win.”

Port Washington’s Kayla Hill and Misha Petrov won 6-4, 7-6(3) at fourth doubles, and Katie Kors and Phoebe Levitsky came back to win 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 at second doubles and Thea Rabman fought back from a set down to beat Amy Delman 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at first singles, in a rematch of the county semifinals last week, to round out the scoring.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Rabman said of the team’s success this year, bouncing back from a loss in the semifinals to Hewlett last year. “The captains were really helpful in getting us ready for each match, giving speeches before we played and keeping us motivated throughout the season.”

Thea Rabman came back from a set down to beat Amy Delman at first singles

 

The Vikings are now winners of 49 of its last 50 matches, and advance to the Long Island Championship, awaiting the winner of Westhampton Beach and Islip in the Suffolk County Championship.

“What I love most is that we started a new streak this year. I think that we learned most from last year was that anything can happen on a given day,” said Helfner. “They were determined, they were hungry and they wanted it more than ever this year. Our practices showed that. We prepared harder than ever and we did everything we could to get here.”

 

 


Brian Coleman
Senior Editor, Long Island Tennis Magazine
Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com.
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