Friday, September 19, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Adriana Gotay's straight sets win at first singles helped McNair Academic to a 4-1 win over St. Dominic Academy and its 36th consecutive win against Hudson County competition.

JERSEY CITY - Even though both McNair Academic and St. Dominic Academy have been dominant in not allowing a single point since their opening matches of the season, neither team really had a gauge on how they stacked up against top Hudson County competition. With the Hudson County Tournament already underway, the two teams squared off and learned quite a bit about themselves in the process. St. Dom’s showed that it has risen to the upper echelon of teams within the HCIL, while McNair showed that it is still the big dog on the block and still the team to beat.

Lauren Russell’s straight-set victory at third singles clinched the victory as McNair Academic won its 36th consecutive match within Hudson County’s borders with a 4-1 triumph over St. Dom’s on Wednesday at Lincoln Park in Jersey City.

“We’re disappointed that we lost today, but they were the better team on this day,” said St. Dominic head coach Marilyn Wilson. “Last year, we got beat by them (5-0) both times. This was a closer match and it shows that we’re getting better and we’re not that far from the top.”

McNair’s biggest strength comes from having experienced double players who have performed well in big matches last year en route to being the first team ever from Hudson County to win a state sectional title.

Francesca Dell'Acqua scored the SDA point with a walkover at second singles.

Such was the case again yesterday as the Cougars quickly got two points on the board. Angela Zhang and Therese Villa did not drop a game at second doubles and the duo of Anjellin Lozano and Jordan Isidio scored a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

With both first and second singles heading to a third set, Russell should have felt the pressure of both the match and the streak on her shoulders. Already up a set, the steady Russell continued to control her match from the baseline. She used a strong forehand return to break serve twice early in the second set on her way to a 6-4, 6-2 win over St. Dom’s Elena Dell’Acqua that wrapped up the match for the Cougars.

“There was a lot of pressure, but it was no different from every other match because the rest of the team is always counting on you just like you are of them,” said Russell. “It took me awhile to figure her out and she played hard every point. Once I saw the style that she played, I became more comfortable. That helped me to be more aggressive and take some chances that I wasn’t taking earlier in the match.”

McNair (8-1) got its other point at first singles where Adriana Gotay rallied from a set down to win in a third-set super tiebreaker 3-6, 6-2, (10-7) over St. Dom’s standout Tania Malik. St. Dominic (7-1) got its point at second singles from Francesca Dell’Acqua. She was up 3-2 in a third-set super tiebreaker when her opponent, Ally Valde, went down with an injury and was not able to continue.

McNair's Lauren Russell clinched the match with her win at third singles.

McNair has now won a remarkable 36 straight against county competition. But with each passing win comes a larger bulls’ eye on the backs of the Cougars. It is a feeling this team has embraced and one that is considered by both head coach Alex Taunean and his players to be more of an honor than a burden.

“With the counties already here and the states coming up soon, this is a very exciting time for our team,” said Taunean. “It’s taken a lot of work and alot of dedication for us to get to where we are. I think our mental approach has really improved just in the past few weeks.

“Tennis is an error game. So all of our focus is on not making unforced errors and capitalizing on those errors when our opponents make them. Today we did a good job against a tough team of capitalizing on the opportunities we had. To be as successful as we were last year, we have to remain consistent and take advantage of opportunities when they are
there.”

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