Quality start for Long Beach

With No. 1 singles player Lila Martz leading the way, Long Beach is off to a fine 5-1 start and part of a three-team race with Plainedge and Baldwin for Nassau Conference III-B girls’ tennis supremacy.

“The girls are working hard and doing well,” said Lady Marines first-year coach Tony Stricklin, who took over the varsity program from Sue Hirschbein-Bodnar after serving as her assistant for four years. “I love teaching the game, and I’ve got a great group of girls to teach,” he added.

Martz and fellow senior Samantha Shreck, who plays second singles, are the veteran leaders for Long Beach, which lost to 5-1 Plainedge and has yet to face 4-1 Baldwin. “The Plainedge match was tight and we’re looking forward to playing them again,” Stricklin said. “It could’ve gone either way. We haven’t seen Baldwin, but I hear they have some strong singles players so it’ll be interesting.”

Martz has held down the team’s top singles position for three years and brings a tremendous all-around game to the court. She posted double digits in wins in each of the past two seasons and is off to a 6-0 start this fall.

“Lila puts a ton on the ball,” Stricklin said of the hard-hitting, five-year varsity performer. “She’s consistent and hits the ball deep to keep opponents off the net. She has a great forehand and wears opponents down.”

Shreck, a three-year starting singles player, has won four of five matches so far. “Sam has a terrific first serve. It’s heavy and aggressive, and when she’s on she’s tough to beat,” Stricklin said. “She has great hand-eye coordination and covers a lot of court.”

At third singles, sophomore Samara Rynecki won the spot during the first few weeks of practice and is holding her own with three wins. “She’s like a wall; she hits everything back,” Stricklin said. “She wins long rallies by not making unforced errors.”

None of the Lady Marines’ doubles tandems returned, but Stricklin likes the chemistry the pairings have shown. “It’s tricky putting doubles teams together sometimes,” he said. “But I think we’re solid in all four positions.”

Senior Grace Smith and sophomore Mariza Navera are in the No. 1 spot, junior Jillian Rosenblum and sophomore Grace Goldstein are No. 2, junior Natalia Podboraczynska and sophomore Madison Landau are No. 3, and senior Jacqueline Cook and sophomore Rebecca Spodick are No. 4.

In Long Beach’s 4-3 win at Lawrence Sept. 27, Landau and Spodick formed the third doubles team and rolled to victory.  

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