Lady Marines continue to thrive

The competition keeps getting stiffer, but it hasn’t stopped Long Beach’s girls’ badminton program from stockpiling wins and conference championships.

The Lady Marines have made it three conference titles in as many years, taking Conference II with a perfect 12-0 record, and will make their first-ever Nassau County playoff appearance next week when they host a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the opening round.

“The program has thrived since it started,” coach Andrew Rossi said. “Each year we’ve had a great group of dedicated and hard-working girls. They’re fast learners and love to play badminton.”

In its first year of existence — 2010 — the team captured the Conference V title. After finishing atop Conference IV last spring, Long Beach was bumped all the way to Conference II. “I really didn’t know what to expect, but I wanted to see how we’d do against better competition,” Rossi said. “Here we are undefeated and getting ready to host a playoff match.”

Senior captains Brigitte Gilbert and Samantha Shreck lead the way at first and second singles, respectively. Gilbert is unbeaten and Shreck has suffered just one loss. “Brigitte’s a natural athlete who’s quick and as cool as a cucumber,” Rossi said. “She’s always been great at covering the court and hitting finesse shots. This year she added power to her game. Samantha’s always hit with power, and this year her footwork really improved. So they sort of shared each other’s strengths.”

Sophomore Jesse Shreck, who played first doubles a year ago, moved up to third singles and won nine her first 10 matches. “She’s one of the keys to the program’s future,” Rossi said.

The new doubles combinations have clicked from the get-go, the coach noted, and all have at least eight victories. At second doubles, senior Heidi Abrego and sophomore Allyson Peysner are undefeated. Junior Shannon Romig and sophomore Madison Landau comprise the top pair and have 10 wins, seniors Munmun Ahmed and Cece Nyman are 9-2 in the No. 4 slot, and senior Jackie Gomez and sophomore Marisa Navera are 8-3 at third doubles.

Though Rossi doesn’t want to look beyond the first round of the playoffs, which begin Monday, he’s eager to see how the Lady Marines would stack up against likely No. 1 seed Calhoun in the quarterfinals. “We’ve never faced a Conference I team,” he said. “But last year’s county champion came from Conference II, so it’s not impossible.”