Eden Romano nails down Bayport-Blue Point's second consecutive Long Island girls tennis crown
Eden Romano of Bayport-Blue Point during the Long Islandl girls tennis small schools team final against Cold Spring Harbor on Tuesday in Syosset. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
The Long Island small school girls tennis championship began on Monday, but was postponed mid-match because of inclement weather. Bayport-Blue Point was trailing in all but two matches.
But when the Phantoms returned to play, they flipped a switch. Bayport-Blue Point earned its second consecutive Long Island crown, defeating Cold Spring Harbor, 4-1, on Tuesday at Syosset.
Eighth-grader Eden Romano clinched the victory for Bayport-Blue Point in a second singles win, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, over Cold Spring Harbor’s Taylor Winthrop.
“My match left off 3-4 [on Monday], and when we came back I was really scared I would lose,” Romano said. “After I dropped that first set, I knew I just had to channel all of my effort and keep trying. I knew I couldn’t give up.”
Bayport-Blue Point (19-2) advances to the NYSPHSAA semifinal round at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Queens. The Phantoms will face the winner of Edgemont (Section I)/Oneida (Section III).
Third doubles pair Jordana Heller and Julie Willems set the tone for Bayport-Blue Point with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Cold Spring Harbor pair Kate Rogers and Hadley Arcati. Lily Castka quickly followed suit with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Brooke Winthrop in first singles.
Even while the Phantoms held a 2-0 lead, it was still anybody’s match. All three remaining matches went deep into three sets.
Cold Spring Harbor second doubles pair Dylan Savarese and Stevie Sullivan earned a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Danielle Oleksiak and Ella Little, which made the score 2-1 before Romano sealed the deal.
“All the pressure disappeared when I won,” Romano said. “All my teammates rushed onto the court to support me. It was really fun.”
While dealing with the uncertainty of when the match would be played and trailing early in the competition, coach John Selvaggio said coming out with the win is a testament to his team’s resilience.
“These girls work so incredibly hard all season long,” Selvaggio said. “They’re constantly in these tough situations, but they always find a way to get out. In every match, someone new steps up.”
As for Romano and his other younger athletes, Selvaggio said their maturity is a key component to Bayport-Blue Point’s continued success.
“It just shows how tough she is that Eden knew, even as an eighth-grader, that it was OK to drop that first set,” Selvaggio said. “She knows it's OK to be down. She knows she just has to rely on what got her here.”
Following Romano’s clinching win, first doubles pair Leila Rogers and Evie Romano closed out the match with a 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 victory over Cold Spring Harbor’s Kaitlynn Hanna and Sylvana Guariglia. Cold Spring Harbor finished its season at 11-6.
