Brittany Burke and
Hannah Eilbeck
go to State Finals
For the eighth year in a row, Garden City was represented at the State Tennis Tournament in Albany. The doubles team of Brittany Burke and Hannah Eilbeck finished third at the Nassau County Tennis Championships held at Eisenhower Park last month, earning the duo a spot in the State Finals.
Upon entering the Nassau County tournament, Burke and Eilbeck were seeded second overall in the single elimination tournament. This seeding earned them a first round bye. Round two was a 10-game pro-set against a team from Carey which they won comfortably at 10-2. Round three pitted the girls against conference rivals Lai and Hwang from Great Neck South. Burke and Eilbeck really started to play their best tennis, reading the other team’s every move and attacking the ball early in the point. They defeated them 6-2, 6-0. In the quarter finals, the ladies were up against another conference foe: Roslyn. Once again, Garden City brought their A-Game and defeated Roslyn, 6-1, 6-0, putting them in the semi-finals on Sunday.
Sunday brought chillier weather and the number 3 seed Kallenberg and Linder from Port Washington. Burke and Eilbeck rolled through the first set 6-2, but momentum began to shift. Port Washington’s team began countering the girls’ strategy and stole the second set 6-4. The third and deciding set was a real nail-biter with the scores shifting back and forth with points going longer and longer. The Port Washington team pulled the set out, 7-5, knocking the Garden City team into the third place match. The Lady Trojans were able to recover from the loss and came back to take third place against a tough team from South Side.
Burke and Eilbeck traveled to the state tournament Nov. 1 through the 4 where they won their first round, but were knocked out in tough competition in the second round.
Crystal Boyd is a coach and physical education teacher at Garden City High School.
