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Hand Girls' Tennis' No. 3 Doubles Seals SCC Three-Peat

Hand girls' tennis has constantly featured one of the top total doubles rosters in the SCC and, that, along with a complete team effort, netted the Tigers another perch upon the SCC Division I mountain top.

The Tigers defeated Amity by a 4-3 margin on May 30 at Yale to win their third straight league championship and sixth in the last seven seasons. After the two squads split the four singles matches, Hand took contests at No. 1 and 3 doubles with the latter being the decider after sophomores Ryann Corniello and Sabrina Colonese-DeBello etched out a three-set victory to earn the Tigers a SCC three-peat.

"I felt so sick and nervous and that I would throw up and cry at the same time," said Colonese-DeBello "Our team cheering for us was key today, along with a lot of practice going into it. It just feels awesome to do this again and win SCCs."

The pair took the upper hand in its clash with Amity's Rebecca Bullers and Lauren Zorena thanks to a 6-3 opening-set victory, while the Spartans battled back in the second to win by that same margin before Hand's duo grabbed the pivotal 7-5 triumph in the third.

"It just feels awesome and really amazing to win," said Corniello. "I'm so glad we worked this hard to get where we are now."

In singles competition for Hand (16-1), No. 3 player and junior Clara Wang prevailed, as she made quick work of Jamie Hashem. Wang took the opener 6-1 before cruising to a 6-0 sweep to win in straight sets. At No. 4, freshman Ankita Roychoudhury didn't lose a single game in her contest versus Julia Forbes, coming out on top 6-0, 6-0.

Junior Ana Grosso took a 6-1, 6-1 loss at the No. 1 slot against Amity (15-2) counterpart Victoria Li, and rounding out solo action, No. 2 senior Meghan Hart dropped 6-0, 6-0 sets to Claire Foster.

Moving to the doubles courts, the Tigers' top tandem of senior Gabby Diotalevi and Megan Sosensky (co-tournament Most Outstanding Player Award winners) moved their way to a lengthy straight-set win. The pair edged out Rebecca Lettick and Daphne Kreiger 7-6 first prior to a 6-3 triumph the following set.

"I knew our girls came close, and their [Diotalevi and Sosenky's] only loss this year was to Amity, and we just worked on a few things like lobbing," said Head Coach Kitty Palmer. "So they just had to mix it up, but they had nerves of steel, and I'm just so happy for them because they are senior captains."

In additional play, the No. 2 doubles pairing of senior Erin Hart and sophomore Sheila Flaherty fought valiantly in a three-set defeat. The two took the first set by a 7-5 count before the Spartans answered with a pair of 6-1 victories.

"Our No. 3 doubles played them a week ago and beat them in three, so I knew that would be close," said Palmer. "Our doubles have been tough all season and got us the record that we have. I feel every point is important, and I know teams work hard on singles, and we do too, but doubles is as important, if not more, than singles, so it's satisfying to see them play so well."