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05/25/2012 01:00 PMFor the fifth time in six years, the Hand girls' tennis team stands alone atop the Southern Connecticut Conference, retaking the throne from Amity who last year ended the Tigers' streak of four straight titles.
Hand was the No. 1 seed coming into the SCC Tournament final on May 25 at the Yale tennis courts, pitting itself against recent foe and No. 2 seed Amity. The two teams split during the regular season, setting up a rematch of 2011's SCC final, a contest Amity won 4-3. But, the Tigers had just beaten Amity 5-2 on the final day of the regular season and took that momentum into the championship match, winning again 5-2.
"We lost to [Amity] in the beginning of the season, and the match we played against them about a week and a half ago we were very focused," said Hand Coach Kitty Palmer. "We did very well and beat them 5-2, but I knew they switched a few people around their lineup and I knew this was going to be a lot, and of course the pressure. This was going to be a lot harder."
The outcome hung in the balance late into the match with the Tigers holding a slim 3-2 lead with the No. 3 singles and doubles matches raging on. Taylor Fay—who earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors for the second consecutive year — knocked off Amity's Jessica Seidman in No. 1 singles, the third time this season Fay has defeated her Amity counterpart (6-2, 6-4).
"[Seidman] is a hard player, she gets everything back," said Fay, a senior. "The key to beating her I think is coming up on the net and putting the volleys away because she will rally all day from the baseline. That was my strategy for today."
With the win, Fay remains unbeaten on the year, avenging a loss she suffered to Seidman on the same exact court during the 2011 regular season.
"I said, 'let's not remember that one,'" Palmer said. "[Fay] was down a little bit in the first set, but she came back and had a great second set. Taylor has been terrific, undefeated at the moment, so she has had a great year."
The No. 1 doubles team of Claudia Lohn and Gabby Diotalevi (6-2, 6-0), and the No. 2 doubles tandem of Nicole Cahill and Callie Swiggett (6-1, 6-1) all earned wins for Hand, leaving Melissa Parker at No. 3 singles and Alyssa Fleischman and Chloe Squitiero at No. 3 doubles to decide the match. Parker won the longest match of the day 6-3, 7-5.
"I was getting very tired, but I just kept pushing through every point," said Parker, a sophomore. "I just took one point at a time and I really tried hard to keep moving, and not let myself get too tired."
Fleischman and Squitiero battled back to win in a third-set tiebreak (6-2, 3-6, 7-6) against an undefeated Amity team, sealing the title for the Tigers.
"Watching the No. 3 doubles play was so nerve-wracking, so nerve-wracking," said Fay. "They were down in the second set and came back and won. Especially against that undefeated team, they did a great job."
Hand didn't hide its satisfaction with beating Amity, the only team it lost to during the 2012 regular season.
"It feels good to beat Amity, we worked really hard and even though they beat us at the beginning of the season, it was good to beat them and get the SCC title," Parker said.
The Class M State Tournament began on May 29 and as the defending champions, the Tigers know there will be a target on their backs.
"I think for states we just have to keep working hard, playing hard, and we will do well," said Parker.