The one match Cardozo led it couldn’t finish.
It was that kind of day for the No. 2 Judges, who saw their run of three straight PSAL Class A girls tennis titles come to a halt Friday afternoon. Top-seeded and undefeated Goldstein blanked them, 5-0, at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, out-powering and out-steadying the Queens powerhouse.
No. 1 singles Leighann Sagahun was ahead of Goldstein’s Becky Schtilkind, 5-4, in the first set when she had to retire after suffering a left leg injury she needed treatment for afterward. Cardozo’s other two singles players – No. 2 Rebecca Fakas and No. 3 Arielle John – combined to win a total of six games in losses to Goldstein’s Destina Grunin and Elizabeth Tsvetkov, respectively, while the doubles teams of Minxuan Yuan and Dexuan Yuan and Steliana Fakas and Olivia Poon lost heartbreaking three setters.
“I never saw this other team play, I just heard about them and you could tell when they were warming up they were very good,” Cardozo coach Neal Baskin said. “It turned out to be very close in some of the matches. I was really glad the way most of the girls played. We lost to a better team. What are you gonna do?”
The two teams met last year in the final, won by the Judges, 3-2. This was a different Cardozo (11-2) team without No. 2 singles Arielle Griffin, who missed the entire season with a knee injury.
Baskin said he never thought of Griffin’s absence, though it was glaring. Goldstein coach Victoria D’Orazio even said Griffin’s presence would’ve changed the match drastically. Not only would she be favored to notch a victory, but she also would’ve moved Fakas to third singls and John to doubles.
“It would’ve been so different,” said the Arizona State-bound Sahagun, who is ranked 22nd in the nation by TennisRecruiting.Net. “I kind of feel like everybody felt there was pressure on them to win because Airell wasn’t here, like they had to win.”
That said, Cardozo lost the matches that were there for the taking, dropping both doubles matchups in three sets. It ended a remarkable run of dominance by the Judges, who won four of the last five ‘A’ crowns.
“I’m disappointed, but it’s still hard to win three years in a row,” Sahagun said. “A lot of teams would love to win three years in a row. I really didn’t care if we lost, it was if we showed all-out effort and I felt we did that.”
Cardozo’s All-American: Though Friday didn’t go as planned for Sahagun and Cardozo, the senior had a good week. On Thursday it was announced she was named an All-American by the National High School Tennis All-American Foundation, joining Beacon standout Quinton Vega as the only city players to earn the recognition. Sahagun was also the only girl from New York.
“I didn’t know they had that, but it’s pretty cool,” she said. “It’s amazing. Everybody wants to be an All-American in college, so to do it in high school is great.”