By Anthony Bosco
The win also kept alive the Terriers' win streak, now at 49 straight matches. The team has yet to lose under head coach John Brennan – now in his second year.
“This is an incredibly talented Prep team,” said Brennan, who has coached the boys' team at the Fresh Meadows school for the past eight years.
The team was spearheaded by junior Alessandra Tedergnana, who has not lost a match in her three-year career with the Terriers. Tedergnana dominated her opponent, Alyssa Rossi, winning their first singles match-up 8-0.
Prep was almost as dominant in second and third singles. Senior Kristin Mulstay beat Alexis Lenza, 8-2, in second singles and sophomore Lisa Vulin blanked Arielle Lenza, 8-0, in third singles. Of the team's three top singles players, only Mulstay has lost once during the entire season.
The doubles pairings also had little trouble en route to victory. Robin Chu and Eleinora Featherstone defeated Jackie Timtone and Liz Mattia, 8-2, and Jasmine Grays and Susan Steinmann beat Georgina Ferzli and Christina Ferzli, 8-1.
Brennan could have predicted success for the team, which plays in the Nassau/Suffolk league of the CHSAA because “the competition is much better out there,” the coach said.
Last year the Lady Terriers became the first Catholic school team, boys or girls, to not only reach the finals of the Mayor's Cup, but also win the prestigious tournament. The Mayor's Cup pits the best public, private and parochial schools against one another every spring.
Brennan's focus this year, he said, was the team's doubles pairings, something he said has been greatly improved over last year. Chu, Brennan said, has never lost a doubles match at St. Francis and Featherstone, a freshman, is a highly ranked player in the Eastern Tennis Association and could be a No. 1 singles star on most teams in the league.
“We were determined to do a lot better this year in doubles and we did extraordinarily well,” Brennan said.
The state title win came one week after St. Francis Prep dominated St. Anthony's for the league championship, 6-1. The team's final record stands at 17-0. The Terriers will next play in the Mayor's Cup in the spring.
“We'll see what happens this year,” Brennan said.
