SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Making her third straight appearance in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) girls’ tennis individual championships, Brighton’s Leyla Tozin placed third in singles’ action at Central Park in Schenectady this past weekend
Tozin dominated and easily defeated her opponents in the first, second and quarterfinal rounds losing only three games in each match leading up to the semifinals.
In the semifinals on Friday afternoon, the junior fell to Olivia Dartawan (Niskayuna), 5-7, 4-6. The match included long rallies and many deuce points.
“I’m very happy to have made it this far and to have represented Section V,” Tozin said.
She went on to describe the match as “very close, with only a couple of points deciding the match.
“I think Olivia was just able to play better than me in those key moments, giving her a well-deserved win.”
Tozin’s opponent Saturday morning in the third-place match was a familiar face in reigning state champion, Victoria McEnroe (Bronxville). Tozin lost to McEnroe, the daughter of former USTA pro Patrick McEnroe, in the first round of play in 2021 and again in the semifinal round last year.
This year, Tozin started off strong and rallied to a 3-0 lead before McEnroe retired in the first set’s fourth game.
Tozin was joined at the championships by Emily Miller (Victor – Freshman), and Sophia Carling (Harley Allendale Columbia – Senior). Section V’s doubles teams included Ella Hall (Junior) and Samantha Kotz (Junior) (Brighton), Caroline Fitzsimmons (Junior) and ShuShu Wu (Junior) (Pittsford Sutherland), and Aiza Ahmed (Sophomore) and Sophie Khan (Senior) (Pittsford Mendon).
The three-day event was held outdoors with unusually warm weather forecasts this year and due to limited indoor court space post fire at Schenectady’s usual location, Sportime. The tournament began on Thursday, October 26th with a round of 32 singles matches and 32 doubles matches.
The girls’ tennis season will conclude later this week with the NYSPHSAA Championships scheduled for Friday November 3rd at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Once again Section V will be represented at the event with Harley Allendale-Columbia competing this year for a State Championship in Division 2.
Scores:
SINGLES
Round of 32
Leyla Tozin (Brighton) defeated Sofia Banifatemi (Clarence) 6-0, 6-3
Emily Miller (Victor) defeated Lola Dangin (Ross) 6-3, 6-1
Sophia Carling (HAC) lost to Nina Wiese (Garden City) 1-6, 1-6
Round of 16
Leyla Tozin (Brighton) defeated Jolie Chichak (Shenendehowa) 6-2, 6-1
Emily Miller (Victor) lost to Angel Walia (Herricks) 0-6,3-6
Quarterfinals
Leyla Tozin (Brighton) defeated Kailin Gochna (North Shore) 6-2, 6-1
Semifinals
Leyla Tozin (Brighton) lost to Olivia Dartawan (Niskayuna) 5-7, 4-6
Singles – 3rd place
Leyla Tozin (Brighton) defeated Victoria McEnroe (Bronxville) 3-0 (retired)
DOUBLES
Round of 32
Ella Hall/Samantha Kotz (Brighton) lost to Emilia Romano/Evangeline Romano
(Baypoint-Blue Point) 6-4, 0-6, 0-6
Caroline Fitzsimmons/ShuShu Wu (Sutherland) lost to Diya Varma/Manami Wakazono
(Syosset) 2-6, 2-6
Sophie Khan/Aiza Ahmed (Mendon) defeated Peyton Hooker/Julia Conroy
(Beekmantown) 6-0, 6-0
Round of 16
Aiza Ahmed/Sophie Khan (Mendon) lost to Anna Wheat/Ada Radomski (Amherst) 3-6,
7-5, 3-6
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