Tuesday, October 20, 2026
It didn’t come out of nowhere, but Kennedy girls tennis team’s unbeaten 14-0 record took coach Russell Lella slightly by surprise.
With winning records at all three singles slots and a dominant senior-laden doubles contingent, Kennedy soared to the Conference 2B championship with a perfect record. Its two close encounters turned into 4-3 triumphs over Mepham and Massapequa, respectively.
Last season’s Cougars finished 7-6. ““I thought the team would be good this year,’’ Lella said. “But I thought we’d be a little more competitive last year. I didn’t expect us to be undefeated – that’s hard to do – but I did expect the team to compete for the top two spots and a playoff spot. I had a lot of returning players to the lineup.”
Facing the fiercest competition, junior Chloe Auyeung returned at first singles and managed an 8-6 record – an improvement over 2025.
“I think it was really incredible,’’ Auyeung said. “Everyone played their best this season and worked really hard. Together we were supportive, had great team spirit.’’
Auyeung recalls being the last to finish against Long Beach. Even though the Kennedy had already clinched the win, there was no drop in enthusiasm from her teammates.
“I was playing a really tense match – the last one still on,’’ Auyeung said. “The whole team was cheering me on every point.’’
It was a masterful job by Lella, in his second season as varsity coach after serving 10 years with the JV. The playoff didn’t go as well with Kennedy losing in the first round to fellow unbeaten Herricks.
“Mr. Lella was the best coach,’’ Auyeung said. “He brings the best out of all of us. His pep talks that he gives to me and teammates, they really helped to calm me down, telling us not to focus on the past, just the future.’’
Behind Auyeung were junior second singles Maya Magnuson, who posted a10-5 record, and sophomore lefthander Emma Sipin, who weaved the best record of the singles lineup at 12-4. “She’s super competitive,’’ Lella said of Sipin. “She grinds out every point.’’
For the most part, doubles keyed the unbeaten record. In fact, the first doubles team of juniors Isabel Zeigler and Tatum Sosnik posted an unbeaten record. “They were incredible,’’ Lella said.
The third doubles team of sophomore Victoria Stekol and senior Natanya Winiarski were also undefeated as Kennedy displayed too much depth. “They formed a good connection, they played really well together,’’ Lella said.
The Cougars boasted five seniors on the doubles squads. Seniors Lily Syska and Molly Laby manned fourth doubles.
“If you can’t hold the doubles down, you can’t win,’’ Lella said. “The doubles was a big part of our story.’’
At second doubles were two seniors, Kayela Heaney and Alexis Malerba, and their victory clinched the 4-3 Massapequa triumph on Sept. 28.
Kennedy took a 3-0 lead against Massapequa but the four remaining courts saw the Cougars trailing. Only Heaney and Malerba clawed back to victory and rally from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to force a tiebreaker, which they won 10-8.
Prior to that, Auyeung made a big comeback too at first singles. In the third-set tiebreaker, she rallied from 4-0 down for the win and credited her coach for his “motivational’’ words when she trailed.
“She’s a solid all-around player. – good serve, good groundstrokes, athletic,’’ Lella said.
At the Nassau County individual tournament, Auyeung teamed with Magnuson to make a formidable doubles team. The duo won two matches before losing in the quarterfinals.
All three singles players and first doubles return in 2027. “We still should be good next season,’’ Lella said.
