The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake tandem makes history with the Section II – Saratogian double crown

SCHENECTADY, ​​NY – Some say pressure is a privilege. But playing for fun can be just as liberating. Such was the case Thursday afternoon at the Central Park Tennis Courts in Schenectady for the No. 4-seeded Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Spartans tandem of senior Sam Ostrander and sophomore Lydia Koivula.

A day after defeating No. 1-seeded duo Claire Dooley and Addison Jones of Saratoga Springs, Ostrander and Koivula defeated No. 2-seeded senior tandem Rayka Kogut and Hope Brown of Bethlehem 6-1, 6-2 Central through. for Section II the section title doubles.

The Spartans pair became the first in school history to capture the section doubles crown.

“Very excited! “It’s the first time for both us and Burnt Hills to go to states, so we’re proud to bring that to our school,” Ostrander noted of the historic nature of the win.

“It’s really exciting! I’m glad I was able to end my year this way. I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Ostrander added.

Koivula echoed her teammate’s sentiments.

“It’s really exciting! I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow! “I’m really happy that we made history at Burnt Hills and I’m excited to give it back to my team and tell them about it,” Koivula exclaimed.

“I’m super excited! This has been a dream of mine for some time, a big goal. So me and Sam are really excited. I’m also looking forward to traveling to the states!” Koivula added.

The two also commented on their “unconventional” path to the championship.

“It was great. I love playing with Lydia, so I knew we would have fun and we had no expectations, it was just great to play,” Ostrander commented on the win.

“We’ve never played doubles together before, so this was very new for us, but we’ve developed a pretty good bond over the last year. “I’ve only known them for a year, so a lot of singles players play together, and the cheering on the court helped us bond better, which I think ultimately led to doubles, and that’s what helped us win the most,” said Ostrander continued to forge that quick chemistry.

“We only played singles this season. We haven’t played a lot of doubles together, so it was a little difficult to put the doubles together at the last minute, but we did it and worked together and just practiced our shots and it worked out great,” Koivula added.

To that end, Ostrander and Koivula commented on what allowed them to win their match and advance to the state tournament next week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.

“I think, at least for myself, today it was mostly about playing from the baseline and hitting the middle. I think a lot of that really helped us get through it. Lydia also delivered a great serve and that really put us perfectly in the points,” explained Ostrander.

“Well, we came out knowing we wanted it and we wanted it bad. So we both worked really hard, stayed positive and had a good attitude and that’s basically what got us through,” Koivula noted.

“I’m just focused on consistency and getting our first serves and really just working together, staying positive, not letting up and building on what we had,” Koivula added.

In addition to Ostrander and Koivula, Kogut and Brown will represent Section II at states, along with Dooley and Jones, who won their third-place match against Guilderland’s Angela Li and Meghan Uzzilia (7-5, 6-0).