Victoria D’Orazio came close on several occasions. She used the D word – disappointing – but never finished the sentence.
The Leon Goldstein girls tennis coach just couldn’t bring herself to speak a negative word after her team’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss to New York City powerhouse St. Francis Prep in the Mayor’s Cup on Sunday afternoon.
“This is the best season we’ve ever had at Goldstein,” she said. “All my girls should hold their heads up high.”
The Terriers carried an 11-year long win streak into the match, a run that now sits at 189 straight victories, though the Dolphins made them sweat bullets until Marylen Santos topped Elizabeth Tsvetkov, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, in third singles.
Becky Shtilkind cruised in first singles, topping Kathleen Uy, 6-4, 6-1, and Destina Grunin topped Katie DeRienzo, 6-2, 6-2, in second singles. Tsvetkov, a talented freshman with a big forehead, was a point away from a 5-4 lead in the third set. Even the final point, her backhand hitting the net’s tape, was up in the air.
“It was just so close,” D’Orazio said. “If that hits the net and goes over, who knows? But that’s the game of tennis.”
Goldstein, just eight years removed from the developmental level and as recently as 2006 went 3-9 in league, accomplished so much this spring in carving out a niche for itself in girls tennis after winning its first PSAL Class A title over Cardozo and reaching the Mayor’s Cup final for the first time. The Dolphins didn’t lose a single match in fact until the Mayor’s Cup, when they got by Cardozo, 3-2, in the semifinals.
“I’m proud of the team,” Shtilkind said. “We’ve gone so far. St. Francis Prep is so deep, so strong. It’s a big accomplishment for our school.”
More could be on the way. Goldstein graduates just first doubles Jackie Varnyan. Shtilkind is the lone junior starter, Grunin only a sophomore and Tsvetkov a freshman.
“We were first in the PSAL and second with everyone else,” D’Orazio said. “We’re just improving, our momentum is moving forward. I thought I would be more disappointed; I’m not.”
Count St. Francis Prep coach John Brennan as a believer.
“Obviously, Goldstein is very good,” he said.
The Terriers will have eight seniors next year, though as of now nobody nearly as good as Shtilkind or Grunin in singles. D’Orazio thinks next year could be different.
“We’ll have that much more experience and the more experience the better your play will be,” she said. “You can’t get any closer than this. I’m hoping we have another great match next year, only we win.”