Baldwin nets double digits in wins

Due to a recent change in the playoff format that gave only the top team in Nassau Conference III a postseason berth, the Baldwin girls’ tennis team had to have a flawless season in order to keep playing in mid-October.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. But even with the title out of reach, the girls continued to show plenty of fight as the season progressed and won four of the last five games to finish with a more-than-respectable 10-4 record. That was good enough for third in the conference behind only Glen Cove (14-1) and Oyster Bay (11-2). 

Under the old system, the second and third-place finishers would face each other, with the winner moving on to play the conference champion. 

Despite the long odds, longtime Baldwin coach Lauren Jarmel said she was pleased with her team’s competitive spirit despite Glen Cove opening the season with 14 straight wins. “I think the girls were really competitive,” she said. “They still wanted to fight hard and come out with a strong record. They didn’t give up.”

The program’s win total has increased in each of the last three seasons, bettering the 7-7 mark in 2015 and 9-5 last year.

The team boasted five strong doubles teams and will lose just two seniors out of those pairings. One of them is Claire Curran, who teamed with junior Piper Conner to form one of the top combinations in the county with an 11-1 record. One of those wins was a 6-4, 6-5 triumph that helped Baldwin top Plainedge on Sept. 13.

“The first doubles are really competitive,” Jarmel said. “They worked really nicely together. This is their second year playing together.”

The second doubles team of Crystal Whaley and Nicolette Carrion went 8-4 in 2017, while the third pairing of first-year starters and sophomores Adriela Ramos and Paris Jamison posted a 9-3 mark. The fourth doubles pairing of juniors Joann Spencer and Cierra Barkley proved to be another solid combination for the Lady Bruins by going 6-1, including a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory that keyed Baldwin’s 5-2 win over Clarke on Oct. 4.

Another pairing of senior Kalya Ham and junior Kayle Gay posted victories in each of the Lady Bruins’ two wins over Clarke.

Jarmel was also pleased with the efforts of singles players such as senior Emily Sudock, junior Angeline Alcindor and sophomore Kayla McKenzie. Sudock and Alcindor won their matches in a 5-2 victory against Hicksville on Sept. 28, while McKenzie battled for three-set victories that proved to be the difference in wins over Hicksville on Sept. 11 and Carle Place two weeks later.

Sudock has been a four-year starter for the Lady Bruins and is known for her stamina, great serve and hard volleys.

“She’s a great player,” Jarmel said. “She is very driven, she doesn’t give up. She moves around the court nicely and anticipates the ball well.”

As for 2018, Jarmel said she is looking for Alcindor, McKenzie, or doubles competitor Kim Wallace to play bigger roles in singles competition with Sudock gone, as well as Carrion, who Jarmel described as a “strong player.” Jarmel added that Wallace and fellow sophomore Olivia Biggs could emerge as a solid doubles pair.