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Mooney girls tennis team off to 16-0 start
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The Cardinal Mooney tennis team, which includes seniors, from left, Dominique Cicchi, Jamie DiDominico, Lexie Kleeh and Kacey Haggarty, remained undefeated (16-0) after a 5-0 decision over Beachwood in Division II Northeast Region quarterfinal play Wednesday on the Bisons’ court.
MOONEY GIRLS TENNIS TEAM OFF TO 16-0 start
By Greg Gulas
sports @vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Perfection on the court and near- ly as perfect in the classroom — that line best describes this year’s Cardinal Mooney girls tennis team where they remained undefeated (16-0) after a 5-0 decision over Beachwood in Division II Northeast Region quarterfinal play Wednesday on the Bisons’ court.
The win propelled the Cardinals into the regional semifinals for a third consecutive year where they will meet Hathaway Brown next week on their home court.
Winners now of 23 consecutive matches, the Sweet 16 has been an all too familiar tourney stop for the Cardinals.
This year, however, they hope to make it beyond that point which remains uncharted territory for local Division II teams.
“You have to credit our girls because they have a tremendous work ethic,” Mooney coach Jimmy Leslie said. “They play and practice all year round and understand the commitment it takes in order to get to this point. More importantly, they are a focused group that works well together.”
Currently in his third season with the Cardinals, Leslie spent the 2006-10 campaigns at Liberty High School.
Since his arrival, Cardinal Mooney is 51-4.
Ranked 12th and 11th in the final state rankings the past two seasons, the Cardinals’ perfect mark thus far and initial Youngstown Diocese League title has yet to yield a state ranking.
Not even a 3-2 upset of then fourth-ranked Gates Mills Hawken could propel them into the state’s elite listing.
“Our division is very tough and we played really well against Hawken, which has given us much needed momentum heading into our match with Beachwood,” Leslie said. “The Youngstown-Warren area doesn’t get a lot of respect with girls tennis and we realize that we are an underdog, but hopefully come season end we will have earned everyone’s respect.”
Of the teams’ seven players, four seniors, two juniors and a sophomore dot this year’s roster.
Everyone has at least a 3.8 cumulative grade point average with four players sporting perfect marks.
The seniors include Kacey Haggerty (13-3) at No. 1 singles, the No. 1 doubles team of Jamie DiDomenico and Dominique Cicchi (16-0) and Lexie Kleeh (16-0), who along with sophomore Lizzie Mathews form one half of the Cardinals’ No. 2 duo.
“As a team we’re getting better and still looking at playing our best tennis, which we will need to do if we expect to continue to advance in the tournament,” DiDomenico said.
DiDomenico and Cicchi captured the 2012 sectional doubles title and made it to the state finals (a feat accomplished just one other time in the programs’ history) while Haggerty copped the sectional singles crown.
“We’re good friends with the same goals and this is the culmination of the hard work that we have put forth. We have trust in each other, talk between points and pick each other up when necessary,” Cicchi noted.
“We’ve played together for quite some time and the closeness that we’ve developed has helped us along the way,” Kleeh added.
According to Leslie, their goals this season were to win the newly-formed Youngstown Diocese League (comprised of Cardinal Mooney, Ursuline, Warren JFK, Canton Central Catholic and Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas), which they have already accomplished, go undefeated, a goal which they have put themselves in position to also achieve and qualify as a team for state.
“We’ve set our goals high and are in position to achieve them all. If we do not qualify as a team then we hope to qualify individuals in both singles and doubles play,” Leslie said.
For Haggerty, remaining focused is their top priority.
“We want to go undefeated and after practicing together all summer, we’re ready to achieve that goal. We still get a little nervous before a match, but if we stay focused then we should be all right,” Haggerty said.
Two other very important parts of the Cardinals’ court success this year are juniors Gianna Rieder (16-0) at No. 2 singles and Hallie Yerian (15-1) at No. 3 singles.
Susan Cianciola, daughter of former YSU basketball coach Mike Rice and a four-year tennis letterwinner at Syracuse, has served as private coach to many of the girls on this year’s roster.
“There is a team unity on this Cardinal Mooney team that seems to make everything come together. They have depth, they’re confident and remain focused once on the court,” she stated. “They definitely have the ability to win a state title.”
The winner of the Northeast region advances to the state final four, which will be held in Columbus.