GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland girls’ tennis team had a successful season this fall.

The Lady Dutch won the Gold Division of the Suburban Council with a 8-3 record in the league. Guilderland finished the season with an 11-5 overall record.
"We get a trophy in the trophy case," said Guilderland Coach Janet Kuzman. "We had an out-of-sight year. We are very talented."

The Guilderland team had two seniors, nine juniors, two sophomores, two ninth-graders, and two seventh-graders on the varsity roster this season.

Kirsten Ackerman was one of those seventh-graders. She played in the number-five singles slot and finished the year with a 13-2 record. She recieved the Rookie Star of the Year Award.

Junior Laura Santacrose played number-six singles for the Lady Dutch. She was also one of the team’s captains. She started the season late — in the middle of September — but finished the year with an 8-2 record.

Classmate Shahreen Virjee gave up the number-six spot to play number-two doubles and only lost one match with her partner, seventh-grader Rachael Ellenbogen. They lost a three-set match to a doubles team from Shaker.

Junior Toni Gaspary and sophomore Reeya Boolchandani were the number-one doubles team.

The highlight of their season was beating the top Shenendehowa team 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. They also beat a Niskayuna doubles team after trailing 5-0 in a play-in match.

Boolchandani and Gaspary won the match 7-6 (7-4 in the tie-breaker), 6-2.
"They killed them with their heart and focus...and strength," Kuzman said.

The number-three doubles team was made up of junior Mijung Kim and Megan Ryan. They finished the season with a 15-1-1 record.
"They were huge and solid for us," Kuzman said. "They usually were the last players on the court. We only have eight courts and nine matches count in the line-up. They would pull out the win for us. We could count on them."

Singles ace

Chelsea Bush was the number-one singles player for the Lady Dutch this season.

Bush had a 9-7 record.
"For a number-one singles player in the Suburban Council, that is great," Kuzman said. "Chelsea, in all of her five years as a varsity player, has never had a losing record. As a seventh-grader she played on the junior varsity and then moved to varsity as an eighth-grader and played sixth singles. She went undefeated. As a high-school player, she played number four, three, two, and one singles respectively."

Bush received Most Improved, Coach’s, and Most Valuable Player awards at the team’s season-ending banquet.
"It was not only my vote," Kuzman said of the MVP award, "but the team’s, hands down. She will be sorely missed."

Stacy Mirochinik, Claire Cooper, Ally Sobol, and Elizabeth Metzger got some playing time during the season as four and fifth doubles teams.

Sobol, Cooper, and Metzger are all juniors and Mirochinik is a senior.

Lindsey Reilly, Lizzie Schaeffer, and Meera Chappidi played singles during the year.

Chappidi and Bush formed a doubles team for the sectional tournament last month. They lost in the quarterfinals to a team from Shaker that wound up finishing sixth at the state tournament.

Six girls from Guilderland competed in the sectionals. Two singles players and another doubles team joined Bush and Chappidi.

Virjee competed in the singles tournament and lost in the quarterfinals to the third-place finisher, Rachel Kandath of Albany Academy.
At the team’s award banquet held on Sunday, Reilly and Cooper received the Most Improved Player awards. Sobol was awarded for cloning the team’s motto "Make it happen," Kuzman said.
Reilly received the Sportsmanship Award. Virjee was awarded for her "non-selfish" spirit and was given the Coach’s Award.

Ackerman received the Rookie Star Award, which was new this year.

Coming up

The Lady Dutch should continue to be strong next year, with only two seniors graduating and a strong junior-varsity team sending players to the varsity.
"We are going to miss Chelsea Bush’s leadership," Kuzman said. "She was one of our captains."

The junior-varsity team finished the season with a 9-3 record with its toughest competition coming against Shaker this year.
"Coach (Deb) O’Brien at our banquet announced how her team was the one of the most congenial and gave the whole team the Sportsmanship Award under the leadership of Michele Venenzio and Amanda Shawky," Kuzman said.

Eighth-grader Casey Gerety received the Most Valuable Player Award and Shawky, a sophomore, received the Most Improved player.
"Is our Guilderland Dutchmen girls tennis team in good hands"" Kuzman asked. "Very, very, good — hands down. We have a huge junior class coming up but very, very young players nipping at their heels for starting spots. With only two seniors graduating and the team winning the Gold Division, we can only look up."