Violets compete in NY DIII Championships

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via gonyuathletics.com

Junior Madeline King represented NYU in the finals.

Bobby Wagner, Contributing Writer

The NYU women’s tennis team took to the court in the New York State DIII Championships this weekend. The competition was held upstate in Ithaca, New York. The Violets sent six girls to the competition: juniors Jazmin Colling, Alison Wang and Madeline King, seniors Mari Tzakis and Alex Ziarko and freshman Nicole Schnabel.

On day one, all six were in action and five grabbed victories. Colling won twice on that day, first in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, then in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 10-3, moving from the round of 16 to the semifinals in just a day. Wang, King and Ziarko all won their quarterfinal matches. Schnabel won her quarterfinal match, but then moved on to play her semifinal match that same day and lost 6-1, 6-1. Tzakis dropped her quarterfinal match in a grueling three set match that went 7-5, 4-6, 13-11.

On day two, the Violets were not so fortunate. Top-ranked King was the only Violet to advance to day three as she won her semifinal match 6-1, 6-1 over Amanda Alexander of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Wang, Ziarko and Colling all suffered losses in their semifinal matches. Wang and Tzakis also dropped their match in the doubles tournament to Skidmore College.

On Sunday, the final day of the tournament, NYU only had King to represent them. However, King dropped a tough match to second-ranked Emily Hallewell of Vassar College in the singles player finals by a score of 6-4, 6-1. The competition did not include team scoring, so  the only method of scoring was individual play. Despite the end result, the Violets played well over the weekend in their last competition of the fall.

King praised the efforts of the entire team, despite many players having to step up to positions they were not normally accustomed to.

“We had a solid performance at states this past weekend, especially considering two of our top players were at Nationals and most of us had to play up a position,” King said. “We came into the tournament confident and it showed in our play. The new additions to our squad played well and were supportive team players at their first state championships.”

This marks the end of the fall individual season for the team, which opens up the second leg of its season on Feb. 28. The team will begin team scoring in the spring, so the Violets hope to carry along their individual success to the broader team game.

 A version of this article appeared in the Thursday, Oct. 16 print edition. Email Bobby Wagner at [email protected].