In Sunday's editions, an article about the state high school tennis championships incorrectly listed the school for players Howie Edelstein and Matt Hanna. They are from South River.
The Sun regrets the error.
When the time came for Broadneck's doubles team of Howie Edelstein and Matt Hanna to seize their destiny at yesterday's state tennis championships, they did so with the strong play and intensity that have carried them throughout this season.
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION
Feeling unfulfilled after three previous trips to the state tournament, which resulted in one second- and two third-place finishes, Edelstein and Hanna combined for three strong service games and some dominating net play to defeat Don Ho and Danny McBride of Blair, 6-2, 6-1, for their first state doubles title at Essex Community College.
"Words can not describe how fulfilling this is," Edelstein said. "We were waiting all year for this after coming so close the last three years."
Said Hanna: "We felt pretty comfortable coming into the tournament and we were playing some of our best tennis of the year. It's been a long year, and with this title coming right after graduation, this really feels good."
From the start Edelstein and Hanna made it clear they wouldn't let up. They won the first two games of the opening set and broke Ho's serve in the fifth game to move ahead 4-1 before finishing out the set. The pair then needed just 15 minutes to claim the second set, during which they won five straight games.
After winning a state title in girls doubles a year ago, Centennial's Katie Dougherty found out her fortunes were just as good as a singles player. Dougherty, a junior and the tournament's second seed, fought off rallies by Wootten's Anna Goldstein in both the first and second sets before winning the girls singles title, 6-4, 6-3.
"Winning this was my goal for the year and I came into the tournament knowing I could win it," said Dougherty, who closed out the match with three winners, including a terrific backhanded shot down the line on the final point. "I jumped ahead in both sets but had trouble closing them out."
Dougherty defeated third-seeded Jennifer Hellier of Broadneck, 7-5, 6-1, in the semifinals to get to the championship match.
Stephan Decatur's Greg Zielinski, the tournament's top seed, claimed the boys singles crown by defeating Luke Grimshaw (Thomas Johnson), 6-2, 6-2, and the Seahawks had their second title when Katie Gibbons and Chris Zielinski outlasted Luciana Beck and Brad Tash (Quince Orchard), 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, for the mixed doubles championship.
"It's tough being the number one seed because everyone's gunning for you," Greg Zielinski said. "But I felt really good coming into the finals and I played out of my mind in the first set."
Springbrook's Theresa Whiteside and Rachel Soloman became the fourth top seed to win a state title by defeating Broadneck's Molly Coy and Danielle DeLancey, 6-2, 6-2, in girls doubles.
Other area finishers included Broadneck's Hellier, who finished third in girls singles and the girls doubles team of Lauryn Taubmann and Mary Valverde, from Wilde Lake, who also placed third.
Pub Date: 5/25/97
