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Verdict is in: Cardozo girls' reign over city continues
By Zachary Braziller May 15, 2009
When Neal Baskin took over the Cardozo girls’ tennis program six years ago, he wasn’t expecting to inherit tennis prodigies or collect city championship trophies. A former baseball coach at John F. Kennedy for over two decades, he wanted to develop a winning culture.
“We were building,” he said.
Maybe Baskin should become an architect – it hasn’t taken him long to create a near masterpiece. For the fourth time in five years, the Judges are PSAL Class A champions, this time in easy fashion.
Cardozo blanked Stuyvesant, 5-0, at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Friday afternoon, completing a perfect league season that didn’t see them drop a single match.
The closest finals match was in first singles, where sophomore Leighann Sahagun topped Veranika Li, 7-5, 6-1. Second singles Arielle Griffin rolled over Bessie Rentzler, 6-0, 6-2; Alexa Cohen prevailed in third singles, 6-1, 6-1, over Aviva Hakanoglu; Kim Holmes and Dexuan Yuan won in first doubles, 6-0, 6-1; and Minxuan Yuan and Devangana Rashtrawar won, 6-0, 6-4, for the Judges (13-0).
The future is bright. The only senior on the 14-player roster – Sandra Chiu – is a substitute. Of the starters, the only junior is Rashtrawar.
“I’m looking forward to coaching for the next two or three years,” Baskin said. “It can only get better. (We have) good character from top to bottom.”
As for Stuyvesant (14-2), the loss was disappointing. Yet making it to the final – for a fourth consecutive season – was particularly encouraging. The Lobsters lost a regular-season match for the first time in that time span, falling to Hunter April 23, but came back to beat the Hawks in the semifinals.
“I’m immensely proud of the team,” Stuyvesant coach Jeffrey Menaker said. “Getting back here says a lot about the girls on the team.”
Baskin stopped short of calling the recent trend a dynasty. He didn’t credit his coaching, either.
“It ain’t me,” he said. “You see what we have.”
That’s a mature, skilled and humble team of underclassmen, led by Sahagun, ranked No. 2 in the 16-and-under bracket of the United States Tennis Association's Eastern standings. She played second singles last year, learning from since-graduated Jillian Santos, who is now playing second singles at Binghamton. She came into the year feeling more pressure, Sahagun said, the team leader as a sophomore. She was expected to win – by her teammates and the opposition.
“At first,” she said, “I was a little nervous.”
She excelled under the burden, becoming the leader on and off the court, gaining confidence, Baskin said, as the year went on. She encouraged teammates during practice and in their matches. She relentlessly pushed herself, too, motivating girls that way as well.
“She’s always staying positive and never getting down,” Cohen said.
Said Sahagun: “I’m like the rock of the team and I’m going to make sure everybody is focused.”
In fact, she wants more than the Judges’ second straight PSAL crown. Sahagun feels this is the year Cardozo can knock off St. Francis Prep in the upcoming Mayor’s Cup, the yearly tournament featuring the best Catholic, private and public school teams in the five boroughs. The Terriers have won nine straight Mayor’s Cup crowns and 159 matches in a row. They defeated Cardozo in the final last spring.
“We can do it this year,” Sahagun said. “I want to win both.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com
“We were building,” he said.
Maybe Baskin should become an architect – it hasn’t taken him long to create a near masterpiece. For the fourth time in five years, the Judges are PSAL Class A champions, this time in easy fashion.
Cardozo blanked Stuyvesant, 5-0, at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Friday afternoon, completing a perfect league season that didn’t see them drop a single match.
The closest finals match was in first singles, where sophomore Leighann Sahagun topped Veranika Li, 7-5, 6-1. Second singles Arielle Griffin rolled over Bessie Rentzler, 6-0, 6-2; Alexa Cohen prevailed in third singles, 6-1, 6-1, over Aviva Hakanoglu; Kim Holmes and Dexuan Yuan won in first doubles, 6-0, 6-1; and Minxuan Yuan and Devangana Rashtrawar won, 6-0, 6-4, for the Judges (13-0).
The future is bright. The only senior on the 14-player roster – Sandra Chiu – is a substitute. Of the starters, the only junior is Rashtrawar.
“I’m looking forward to coaching for the next two or three years,” Baskin said. “It can only get better. (We have) good character from top to bottom.”
As for Stuyvesant (14-2), the loss was disappointing. Yet making it to the final – for a fourth consecutive season – was particularly encouraging. The Lobsters lost a regular-season match for the first time in that time span, falling to Hunter April 23, but came back to beat the Hawks in the semifinals.
“I’m immensely proud of the team,” Stuyvesant coach Jeffrey Menaker said. “Getting back here says a lot about the girls on the team.”
Baskin stopped short of calling the recent trend a dynasty. He didn’t credit his coaching, either.
“It ain’t me,” he said. “You see what we have.”
That’s a mature, skilled and humble team of underclassmen, led by Sahagun, ranked No. 2 in the 16-and-under bracket of the United States Tennis Association's Eastern standings. She played second singles last year, learning from since-graduated Jillian Santos, who is now playing second singles at Binghamton. She came into the year feeling more pressure, Sahagun said, the team leader as a sophomore. She was expected to win – by her teammates and the opposition.
“At first,” she said, “I was a little nervous.”
She excelled under the burden, becoming the leader on and off the court, gaining confidence, Baskin said, as the year went on. She encouraged teammates during practice and in their matches. She relentlessly pushed herself, too, motivating girls that way as well.
“She’s always staying positive and never getting down,” Cohen said.
Said Sahagun: “I’m like the rock of the team and I’m going to make sure everybody is focused.”
In fact, she wants more than the Judges’ second straight PSAL crown. Sahagun feels this is the year Cardozo can knock off St. Francis Prep in the upcoming Mayor’s Cup, the yearly tournament featuring the best Catholic, private and public school teams in the five boroughs. The Terriers have won nine straight Mayor’s Cup crowns and 159 matches in a row. They defeated Cardozo in the final last spring.
“We can do it this year,” Sahagun said. “I want to win both.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com