By Anthony Bosco
The St. Francis Prep girls’ tennis team defeated Francis Lewis High School in the finals of the 2002 New York City Mayor’s Cup All-Scholastic Tennis Championship, 5-0, Sunday at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The victory locked up the Terriers’ third consecutive trophy from the annual Mayor’s Cup, a competition of the top public, private and parochial schools throughout the five boroughs.
“To beat every high school in the city for three years in a row is pretty remarkable,” said St. Francis Prep head coach John Brennan. “It’s kind of hard to imagine doing that. They have been remarkable. They continue to win.”
St. Francis scored convincing wins in the preliminary rounds to advance to face Francis Lewis in the finals. The Terriers swept Stuyvesant, 5-0, in the quarters and was again dominant in the semifinals, scoring a 4-1 win over Midwood.
Beating fellow Queens school Francis Lewis proved an easy task, as well. Led by star Allessanda Pedergnana, who has been a part of all three championship teams, the Terriers cruised.
Pedergnana, who lost the team’s lone match against Midwood in the semifinals, dominated the Patriots’ Meghan Iverson in a 6-1, 6-1 straight sets victory. Pedergnana will attend the University of Maryland in the fall.
In second singles, Ellenoira Featherston defeated Lauren Wong, 6-0, 6-0 and in third singles, Lisa Vulin defeated Stephanie Meng just as easily, 6-0, 6-0.
Prep’s first doubles team of Denisa Hluchova and Danijela Vulin nearly lost the second set but held on for the straight sets win over Lewis’ Eileen Lin and Andrea Condur, 6-2, 7-5. In second doubles, the Terriers’ Gina Kang and Kristina Koncewicz beat Estela Kwon and Vicki Vousha, 6-2, 6-3.
Francis Lewis, coached by Wayne Zweigbaum, had wins over the Fieldston School in the quarters and Midwood in the semis to reach the championship.
The usually strong Cardozo girls’ team lost to Midwood in the first round, 3-2.
On the boys side, all three schools from Queens failed to make it out of the opening round, as Archbishop Molloy was swept by Horace Mann, 5-0, and St. Francis Prep and Cardozo lost to Stuyvesant and The Dwight School, respectively, by scores of 3-2.
The Mayor’s Cup singles championships will take place this week, with the semifinals going off Saturday and the finals following on Sunday with an awards ceremony slated for 3 p.m.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger @aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
