Kerri Delmonico and Florentina Hanisch win the Long Island Women’s Invitational

December 3, 2016
Long Island, NY

As some of the regular partnerships in the women’s game have broken up and new combinations have formed, it has been difficult to assess the favorites are at each tournament.  This weekend’s Long Island Invitational was no exception. The unseeded team of Kerri Delmonico and Florentina Hansisch, playing a tournament together for the first time, won the title, beating the second seeds Liz Cruz and Roxy Enica 6-3, 6-0 in the finals.

Delmonico and Hanisch, who practiced together for the first time last weekend, weren’t sure what to expect from each other when the tournament began. “I knew what great hands Kerri has, and how smart she is on the court, but what helped us the most was her mental toughness, and that’s what I’m taking away from this tournament,” said Hanisch.

Delmonico and Hanisch tore through the bottom half of the draw, winning their 4 matches leading up to the finals in straight sets. Those wins came against quality opponents, including the always tough Maria Manley and Pam Ruoff in the second round, the top seeds Cynthia Dardis and Amy Shay in the quarters, and another new team, Lisa Rudloff and Viki Stoklosova in the semis. The two-time national champ Stoklosova and the two-time national finalist Lisa Rudloff  put up some stiff resistance against Delmonico and Hanisch, but went down 7-5, 6-3.

Stoklosova and Rudloff scored an upset of their own, beating Chicago’s heavy hitting third seeds, Hallie Bodman and Liz Hayward, 7-6, 7-5 in the quarters. Bodman and Hayward recovered by beating Dardis and Shay in the quarterfinal reprieve, before losing to Kerri Flynn and Myrthe Molenveld.

The top half of the draw held true to form, with Cruz and Enica defeating the fourth seeds Martina Ondrejkova and Annica van Starrenburg 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. As another team who had never competed together previously, Ondrejkova and van Starrenburg were pleased with how they competed, taking out the rapidly improving team of Flynn and Molenveld in the quarters before losing the three-setter in the semis.  Van Starrenburg analyzed the match, noting, “We played great in the first set against Roxy and Liz, but as the points got longer I think our lack of experience together really hurt us and they were the stronger team at the end.”

In the finals, Delmonico and Hanisch played solidly, consistently coming up with good volleys against the very strong service returns and drives of their opponenents. “Liz and Roxy drive so well, but we were able to neutralize their power because we both volleyed so consistently today, said Delmonico. “That was the difference in the match.”

Thank you to tournament director Tim Mangan and Nassau Country Club. The tournament ran smoothly, and the players enjoyed the never-ending food and drinks and hospitality that kept everyone lingering well into the evening.

Results:
Main Draw: Kerri Delmonico/Florentina Hanisch def. Liz Cruz/Roxy Enica 6-3, 6-0
Quarterfinal Reprieve: Keri Flynn/Myrthe Molenveld def. Hallie Bodman/Liz Hayward 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
Reprieve: Suzanne Lemery/Alison Morgan def. Maria Manley/Pam Ruoff 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Consolation: Katie Adams/Molly Brown def. Amy Hutter/Tina Wein 6-0, 6-3
Consolation Reprieve: Sue Tarzian/Kelly Cobbs def. Mary Gambale/Lindsey Herchel 6-1, 6-2