Blue Wave girls blanked in non-league tennis opener

After making the playoffs last year as the No. 21 seed, the Riverhead girls tennis team pulled off an upset of No. 12 seed Easthampton/Bridgehampton by the score of 4-3. Natalie Sztorc was monumental in the victory, winning a crucial second singles match, 6-2, 2-6 and 6-2. The playoff win was a major stepping stone for the program, which now features a brand-new team — with a handful of seniors having graduated — and a new coach.

Former coach Vic Guadagnino moved down to JV and Riverhead promoted Mike Laffey who previously coached the JV team. He is also currently the head coach of the Riverhead boys tennis team.

“It was just kind of a way to make things more uniform across the board,” Laffey said.“Being that I already coach the boys tennis team, it’s an easy transition for me to also coach the girls.”

Sztorc is one of the only returnees from last year’s playoff team and now will play first singles in her final season as a Blue Wave, a spot that was destined for her.

“I really expect Natalie to have a very good year for us in a very important spot as the first singles player,” Laffey said. “She’s definitely looking like she’s gotten a lot better than last year. Being a senior and stepping up into that first singles spot is a big challenge, but I think she’s definitely up for it. I’ve coached her since she was a freshman and seen her grow over the years. She loves the sport and works extremely hard at it.”

On Sept. 3, Riverhead matched up against Miller Place in the first non-league tennis contest of the season, but the results didn’t go exactly to plan. Though there were tight matches across the eight courts at Miller Place High School, Miller Place eventually prevailed, 7-0.

“First off I think we’re very young and we graduated most of the team last year,” Laffey said. “But also it’s super early in the season and we’ve only practiced for a week so far. I think as the season rolls on we’ll get stronger and more comfortable in the roles I need these girls to play.”

The closest match was in the second singles match between Riverhead’s Victoria Arent and Miller Place’s Bianca Zou. The match lasted longer than every other match around them and both teams eventually crowded along the fence to watch the match go into the third and final set. Though Arent is just entering her sophomore season, she showed tremendous poise going down the final stretch. Being down 3-5 in the final set, she won the next two games to bring it to a 5-5 tie before Zou took the last two games to win the match.

“With a young team I’m just trying to find some consistency in our play as the season progresses,” Laffey said. “Each week I want to make sure the girls are playing hard and really trying to learn from the experience in every match they play. We just want to grow this year; get more comfortable on the court and get comfortable with playing together.”

The third singles spot this year features 9th-grader Sanku Assamagan, so the team is very young overall but the talent level is there. Each of the matches was competitive and although Riverhead came away with a loss, promise was shown during parts of every game, giving Laffey something to work with and grow.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is time,” Laffey said. “They need more time on the court in a competitive environment. I know the girls play in the offseason, but getting in these matches is what really helps a player grow. It’s a pretty quick turnaround to get us ready for our first matches of the season. School just started. I’m just trying to get them in the groove of practicing every day, hitting the ball consistently and being comfortable and confident in themselves.”