2016 New York City Girl Player to Watch Chelsea Williams of Brooklyn Tech The Brooklyn Tech Engineers should be one of the top teams this fall in New York City, and standout junior Chelsea Williams will be a key factor in the team’s success. Williams was outstanding in her sophomore campaign a year ago, posting an undefeated record, including three straight-set victories in her three singles matches during the Engineers’ playoff run. She recently competed in the USTA National Championships in San Diego, Calif. where she reached the Round of 64, losing just nine games in her two victories.
Teams to Watch in 2016 Bronx Science The Wolverines of Bronx Science are set to defend their PSAL Championship from a year ago, and will do so returning most of its contributing members. While decorated senior Brianna Williams has graduated, returning for Bronx Science are Sarah Rahman, Perene Wang and Christina Huynh, at first, second and third singles, respectively, from last season’s city championship team. Sofie Levine and Cassie Tian return as well to give the Bronx Science a loaded lineup as the Wolverines look to defend the crown. Brooklyn Tech A semifinalist in the PSAL “A” Division Championships a year ago, Brooklyn Tech will be out to build on last year’s success. The Engineers return its top two singles players, juniors Nicole Semenov and Chelsea Williams, as well as third singles player Maryna Bohdanovska who enjoyed a successful freshman campaign. Despite losing seniors Nanako Chung and Almaz Nizamov from first and second doubles, respectively, Brooklyn Tech has a deep roster spearheaded by two of the top players in all of New York City in Semenov and Williams. Stuyvesant High School The Stuyvesant Lady Lobsters also reached the final four of the New York City playoffs a year ago and should have another deep playoff run in them this fall. Stuyvesant returns a young but talented singles lineup which includes Jennifer Yu, Maria Ivantechenko and Clara Mohri, who will be more experienced in 2016. Stuyvesant is in a loaded division that features Bronx Science and Beacon, but the battle-tested Lady Lobsters have playoff experience and an extremely talented roster which will make them a viable threat come playoff time. The Beacon School The Beacon School had its string of consecutive New York City titles snapped a year ago as it was edged by Bronx Science in the 2015 finals. But the Blue Demons are a program that has a consistent flow of talent coming up which makes them a perennial contender each season, and 2016 will be no different. Victoria Sec returns at first singles for her senior campaign and will be joined by Aleksandra Bekirova, who will most likely rise to sec-