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Super sub: Garcia helps Cardozo past Harris

By Mitch Abramson

For Garcia, it was a chance to audition for a spot in the starting lineup, either in doubles, where she occasionally plays, or in singles. After pulling off a 10-9 win over Christina Tsirkas in a tiebreaker (11-9) to give Cardozo a 5-0 sweep at home, the senior certainly gave head coach Neal Baskin something to think about.Townsend Harris dropped to 4-2 while Cardozo has yet to lose a match this season and improved to 5-0. Garcia didn't want to be the first fatality this season. “I thought the match was going to be a breeze,” said Garcia, who has a 95 academic average and might attend either Columbia or Cornell in the fall. “But I had to hold on and win a tight match. I just wanted to win. It got me upset that she came back. I needed to win.”Garcia led 6-2 but watched Tsirkas, a senior probably headed to Skidmore, whittle the lead down to 6-5. She regained control to go up 9-6 but Tsirkas broke her twice to force the tiebreaker. Tsirkas had a match point leading 9-8 when Garcia ran off three straight points, the last on a drop-shot to win.”She was hitting that drop shot a lot and when you're running around so much you get tired,” Tsirkas said. “I started to gain a little momentum toward the end, but she was tough.”Garcia was in a similar situation last year when she won a tiebreaker playing No. 3 singles in the second round of the playoffs. She called on that experience for motivation against Tsirkas.”That gave me a little confidence,” she said.Sophomore Dara Lahens occupied the No. 1 singles spot for Cardozo Monday and made short work of her opponent, easily defeating senior Jacquel Chancer 10-1 in 24 minutes. Will Lahen's impressive win be the tipping point in terms of a lineup change?”I might have the players play each other to decide who should be where,” Baskin said.Lahens completed her freshman year at PS 158 last year and followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Afiya, who was the No. 2 singles player at Cardozo last year and is now the No. 2 singles player for Queens College.Dara plays in the same economical style as her sister, and hits the ball with tremendous top spin. That, combined with a blustery wind Monday, made life miserable for her opponent.”I was trying to be aggressive out there,” said Lahens, a Rosedale resident. “It was a little difficult playing with the wind, but I got used to it, and I kind of got myself into a groove out there. I felt good.”In No. 2 singles, Jillian Santos defeated Allison Kornblatt 10-2 for Cardozo, which lost in the PSAL city championships last year to Midwood after tying Townsend Harris for the division title.Cardozo's No. 1 doubles team of Nicole Haynal and Vivian Cheung won 10-4 over Kathy Chancer and Chantal Bruno. And freshmen Stefani Smith and Julia Passik beat Laura Schubert and Sarah Fadika 10-0 in second doubles.Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by E-mail at [email protected] or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.