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04/09/2017 12:00 AMThe East Haven girls’ tennis team is 2-0 to start the spring season after posting a pair of road victories in the first week of play. The Yellowjackets finished last season strong en route to qualifying for the SCC Division II Tournament, and Head Coach Dave Oshana is glad that his squad has picked up where it left off. East Haven beat Lyman Hall 5-2 on April 3 and then shut out Career 7-0 final April 7.
“It’s always great to open the season with some wins. It definitely boosted the team’s confidence and they’re hitting the ball great right now,” said Oshana. “Beating Lyman Hall the way we did was a good indication of how good the team is this year.”
East Haven kicked off its campaign by defeating Lyman Hall 5-2. The Yellowjackets’ winners in singles matches included senior captain Devyn Gargano at No. 2 (6-3, 6-4); senior Karla Gonzalez at No. 3 (6-1, 6-2); and senior Julianna Mikulski at the No. 4 spot (6-3, 7-5). In doubles action, the No. 2 team of junior Nhi Trinh and sophomore Mikayla Raffone won 6-2, 0-6, 7-5; while the No. 3 pairing of sophomore Victoria Guadino and freshman Alexis Pendziwater claimed 6-1, 6-3 victory. In other action, sophomore Jenna Pane lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 at No. 1 singles; and the top doubles team of junior Autumn Hernandez and senior Sandy Nguyen took a 6-2, 6-2 defeat.
On the heels of its season-opening victory, East Haven took that momentum to Career and swept the Panthers 7-0. For singles play, Gargano won 7-5, 2-6, 10-6 at No. 1; Gonzalez won 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2; Mikulski netted a 6-0, 6-1 victory at the No. 3 slot; and Nguyn earned a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4. In doubles action, Hernandez and Raffone won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1; Trinh and Pendziwater prevailed 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 spot; plus sophomore Victoria Gaudino and freshman Emma Luden triumphed by a 6-1, 6-1 margin at No. 3.
There are plenty of fresh faces on this year’s roster for Coach Oshana, who was successful in his quest to bring new athletes to the team. Oshana feels that there’s a great balance between the new and experienced players on his squad.
“I graduated six seniors, so I lost a lot of players, but I was able to pick up a lot of younger players. The good thing is the freshmen and sophomores are all very athletic and very competitive, so it’s great,” Oshana said. “I’ve seen a lot of the girls who played doubles last year step into the singles lineup and be successful there. I’ve seen improvements with Devyn and Jenna. For Jenna, her serving is better, and Devyn is just continuing to improve her game. I think she’s going to have a very good season.”
One of the things that Oshana has been most pleased about thus far this year is the aggressive manner in which his players are attacking the ball.
“The girls are a lot more aggressive this year and they really want to win. They’ve shown a lot of drive to win. They’re playing really well and are a lot more aggressive. Last year, it’s tough to say they weren’t aggressive, but they’re playing really hard,” Oshana said. “The team this year is very athletic and competitive. I think it shows when we play some teams that the girls are in shape, have good stamina, and can outlast their opponents. I give a lot of credit to them for that.”
However, Oshana isn’t too happy that the SCC Division II Tournament has been abolished. After his Easties qualified for the first time last year, Oshana was looking forward to them trying to make it back.
“Unfortunately, they cut the SCC Division II Tournament for tennis, so I was upset about that because we made it last year,” he said. “I think if we can play competitive with the top Division II teams and be competitive with Division I teams, that would be a great goal for us.”
One thing that could help the Yellowjackets reach that goal is the fact that they’ll most likely get to play matches at home this season. East Haven was unable to play home matches when its courts were being resurfaced last year, but if all goes according to plan, the team will be back in action at the friendly confines of East Haven High School soon enough. The Yellowjackets’ first home match is scheduled to take place against Sheehan at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19.
“The courts are not done yet, but hopefully, they will be. They’re still working on them,” Oshana said. “It’ll be nice. We’ll play at [Silver Sands Beach & Tennis Club] again if we have to until the courts are done, but it’ll be great to have them back.”