The 11th-seeded Mattituck Tuckers girls tennis team put up a valiant battle at sixth-seeded East Islip in the opening round of the Suffolk County Team Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon, but it wasn't enough.
The Tuckers and Redmen had split the first six individual matches, and it all came down to second doubles.
The Tuckers' Ashley Goeller and Olivia Cardinale, after splitting the first two sets, 7-5, 3-6, raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third and decisive set against Brittany Bell and Amanda Pomerantz. But Bell and Pomerantz changed their tactics and roared back to win the final six games of the match, capping a 4-3 East Islip victory.
Mattituck Coach Jim Christy called it "a great, great match."
East Islip Coach Mike Drozd said Bell and Pomerantz altered their style of play, moving back and then working their way toward the net.
The win propelled East Islip (8-4) into the second round on Monday, when the Redmen were beaten by the East Hampton Bonackers, 6-1.
East Islip won three of the four singles matches against Mattituck (8-6). In first singles, the Redmen's Karen Serina, a seventh-grader, pounded Erica Bundrick, 6-1, 6-0. East Islip's Monica Lobo topped Jackie Maloney, 6-4, 6-3, in second singles, and the Redmen's Sarah Schreiner outlasted Jenny Smith, 7-5, 7-5, in fourth singles. Schreiner was down 3-0 in the second set before rallying to win.
Mattituck's Laura Stakey beat Devin Tracy, 6-1, 6-0, in third singles.
Drozd called Serina "a phenomenal player. She is the real deal."
Mattituck's first doubles team of Caty Austin and Ashley Finger came back to defeat Chelsea Touhy and Elaine Tornincaso, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Another Mattituck doubles team, Emily Commsado and Danielle Grim, beat Kate Lyons and Courtney Taft, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
That set the stage for the dramatic come-from-behind win by Bell and Pomerantz.
"Mattituck was extremely competitive," Drozd said. "This was a very tough match."