SCHENECTADY — Olivia Dartawan concentrated on defending her Section II girls’ tennis singles title point by point from the beginning of Thursday’s play.
After an ace set up the Niskayuna sophomore for match point, she offered a brief fist pump, but that was probably the only emotion she displayed until she celebrated defeating Shenendehowa eighth-grader Jolie Chichak 6-0, 6-2 at Central Park.
“I wanted to be mentally prepared for the match and concentrate on every shot,” stated Dartawan, the state runner-up from the previous year. “All I wanted to do was stay in each point and choose my shots wisely.”
Dartawan undoubtedly accomplished that, and the best player in Section II will feel confident going into the state championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing next week.
Jim Neal, the coach of Niskayuna, stated, “She’s stronger than last year.” “She has more experience, of course.”
A place in the state competition, which begins on Monday, was guaranteed for Dartawan and Chichak going into Thursday’s match. Second-seeded Riley Schmitz of Holy Names recovered from a loss to third-seeded Chichak the day following, defeating fifth-seeded Bryn Fitzmaurice, a senior from Greenville, 6-2, 6-0, to secure her spot in the state competition.
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Schmitz, a senior, claimed she felt under pressure to finish high school before Thursday’s game. But she felt at ease as the action began.
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It was a fresh foe. Schmitz, who placed second in 2023 after winning the Section II title in 2022, declared, “It was a new day.” “My performance in the semifinals didn’t have to affect today.”
The match that Schmitz won was closer than the score indicated. Throughout the years, Fitzmaurice and Schmitz have been hitting partners and friends, and Thursday’s match featured a number of long rallies.
Schmitz praised Fitzmaurice, saying, “She’s just so steady and so good at hitting everything back.” “I don’t think the score for the second set really captured how close it was or how much I had to mentally stay in the match and not let up.”
With a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Bethlehem’s Rayka Kogut and Hope Brown, a second-seeded team that will also compete in the state tournament, the fourth-seeded Burnt Hills combo of Lydia Koivula and Samantha Ostrander won the Section II championship in the doubles division. The Blue Streaks were also sent to states after the Saratoga Springs top-seeded combination of Clare Dooley and Addison Jones defeated Guilderland’s Angela Li and Meghan Uzzilia 7-5, 6-0 in the consolation round.
In addition to playing singles throughout the regular season, Koivula and Ostrander, who are sophomores and seniors, respectively, had previously partnered in some tournaments outside of academic competition.
Ostrander declared, “We’re not really doubles players at all.” However, we chose to play doubles in my senior year because we believed we.
“We already have a strong bond and work well together as teammates,” Koivula remarked. “So, it was made possible by combining our skill sets.”
Dartawan claimed she didn’t take any of her tournament matches for granted, even though she was the reigning champion.
Dartawan remarked, “Everyone here is a great tennis player.” “So I just try to play my best every match and don’t want to undervalue anyone.”
She will also do that next week. Even though she placed second in the state last year, she is more concerned with the process than the outcome.
“I don’t want to have high expectations, so I just want to play well and hit the ball nicely,” Dartawan stated. “All I want to do is go match by match.” Naturally, it
