Junior Lucy Friedman, shown here with handprints on her legs for Rye Neck’s Homecoming, played her way into the State‘s top eight.
Rye Neck Girls’ Tennis
Lucy Friedman Finishes Top-Eight in New York State
by Mitch Silver
Rye Neck junior Lucy Friedman won her first two singles matches in the New York State Championships at the Tri-State Tennis Club in upstate Latham this weekend, propelling her into the quarterfinals Sunday morning.
As the third-place finisher in Section 1, she began the tournament early Saturday by meeting the runner-up from Section 3 in her opening match. It was no contest. Friedman defeated Ellen Lyga of Notre Dame without the loss of a game.
Next, she took on the overall 8th-seeded girl in the State, Jessica Bodewes of Pittsford-Mendon in Section 5. Relying on her all-court game and improving serve, the Panther star prevailed 6-3, 6-1. But the overall top seed from that same Section, Julia Andreach, proved a bridge too far. Andreach, she of the hundred-mile-an-hour serve and a game which has earned her a full ride to play college tennis at Notre Dame, returned from IMG Academy in Florida to play high school tennis her senior year. She won 6-0, 6-0. Friedman had four game points on the eventual State champ, but couldn’t make the breakthrough.
Friedman’s teammate Sydney Miller of Clarkstown North, the second-place finisher in the Section 1 playoff, won her first match before falling to Suffolk County’s best player, Rose Hayes. Hayes then lost to Briarcliff’s Rebecca Lim—a State semifinalist for the second year in a row— in three sets. Lim would then lose to the all-powerful Andreach as well in the State semifinals.
