After Cardozo won its third straight PSAL city title last month, coach Neal Baskin said for the first time that winning a Mayor’s Cup championship was one of the Judges’ goals. They came very close last year to ending St. Francis Prep’s historic streak at nine, falling 3-2.
But if Cardozo is going to make history Sunday, it might have to do so without its two best players, junior first singles Leighann Sahagun and sophomore second singles Arielle Griffin.
Both are scheduled to compete in multiple matches in the Eastern Designated Closed Championships in Maywood, N.J. Sahagun, ranked No. 3 in the East and arguably New York City’s best female player, was not at the Billie Jean King USA National Tennis Center on Saturday when No. 2 Cardozo defeated No. 7 St. Joseph Hill, 5-0, in the quarterfinals because she had another tournament in Philadelphia.
Coach Neal Baskin isn’t certain whether the two of them would be in Flushing on Sunday morning pending schedule changes at the New Jersey tournament.
The mere possibility that they would not compete in the semifinals and finals didn’t sit well with him at first – in fact, he initially threatened them with a permanent exit from the team. Baskin, whose coaching background is in baseball, has since relented given the nature of tennis and the importance of those tournaments to rankings points and college opportunities.
“It’s a different kind of sport,” Baskin said. “If it’s baseball, I’d say you’re not playing for me anymore. But here? Eh.”
At full strength, Cardozo has a legitimate shot at dethroning St. Francis Prep, which has owned New York City girls tennis for a decade. Terriers coach John Brennan would be the first to admit that. Sahagun and Griffin would be favorites against his first and second singles, respectively, and the other matches would be competitive, too.
“They have the best doubles that I’ve seen them with,” he said. “They’re very dangerous. I can see it coming down to the last match.”
Of course, that would be difficult, if not impossible, without Sahagun and Griffin.
They aren’t the only ones facing this dilemma. Top-seeded Beacon first singles Quinton Vega will attempt to make it to the National Tennis Center by 11:40 a.m. from an outside tournament or his team would face forfeit in its semifinal match against No. 4 Cardozo. The match was scheduled to start at 11 a.m., but Mayor’s Cup officials are giving Vega a 40-minute cushion to get back from New Jersey.
No. 4 Francis Lewis first singles Alexis Tashiro is slated for a 1 p.m. match in New Jersey, so she should be able to play in the Patriots’ semifinal match against St. Francis Prep at 9 a.m. No. 3 Goldstein pulled out of the Mayor’s Cup altogether because players were competing, giving No. 6 Brookyln Tech a bye into the semis.
Two SFP players, first singles Kathleen Uy and second singles Ashley Masanto, were also supposed to compete in the tournament, but they withdrew to play in the Mayor’s Cup. Brennan wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“It is very important to us,” the coach said of the Mayor’s Cup. “If you want to play high school, I hope it means you make some commitment.”
Brennan said Baskin’s initial instinct of kicking the players off the team would have been his as well.
“As far as I’m concerned, your high school career is over,” he said.
It was a tough decision for Uy to make. The Eastern Designated Closed Championships are a major opportunity to earn rankings points. She said it’ll be disappointing if Sahagun, a close friend, and Griffin aren’t playing for Sunday for Cardozo, which meets Brooklyn Tech in the semis.
“I feel like the team is more important,” Uy said, explaining her decision. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint my team, my coach or my school.”
High school versus outside competition is not just common to tennis. In fact, it was the driving force between the PSAL girls soccer season moving from the spring, where club teams compete, to the fall. The battle between club teams and school teams are also widespread in track and field. It’s a very complicated problem, one that is prevalent everywhere.
Cardozo freshman Arielle John, who plays second doubles, wishes it wasn’t one facing her team Sunday. In an ideal world, she said, the tournament and Mayor’s Cup would have been separate days or weekends.
“Then they could play their tournament and do well,” John said, “and we could play here and do well, too.”
