By Leigh Alan Klein
The Haldane girls’ tennis team finished 7-4 on the season, with two of its doubles teams being invited to the conference doubles tournament.
Alii Sharpley and Lucinda Strol defeated Croton in first round on a third-set tiebreaker but fell to the No. 8 seed Briarcliff. Natalie Sandick and Olivia Olsen also won their first-round matchup against Hastings in third-set tiebreaker but fell to Edgemont in second round.
At singles, Sharpley finished the season at 10-1; Sandick and Olsen were 9-2 at doubles.
Senior Liv Sterling, who held Haldane’s No. 1 singles position since she was in eighth grade, will be especially missed next year, said Coach Simon Dudar. She made a seeded conference tournament appearance in three of her five seasons. Of Haldane’s four losses, Sterling was injured and unable to play in three of them.
“Our biggest challenge moving forward is finding the right player to fill her shoes,” Dudar said.
Haldane will return 14 players in 2018.
“We will have some growing pains losing all three single players,” Dudar said. “But the remaining girls have improved greatly over the season and have a real passion for the sport. I fully expect to have another winning season next year, and another run in the conference doubles tournament.”
