Ross School girls tennis team wins first state small schools championship in program history
Zoe McDonald, left, coach Richele LeSaldo, center, and Lola Dangin of the Ross School celebrate winning the state girls tennis team championship at the USTA National Tennis Center on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
At the beginning of the season, first-year Ross School girls tennis coach Richele LeSaldo told her players they had what it takes to win a state championship.
They didn’t believe her at first, but LeSaldo believed in them and, eventually, they believed in themselves.
Now it’s a reality.
Top-seeded Ross defeated No. 2 Cazenovia (Section III), 5-0, to earn the program’s first state small schools title on Friday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing.
“When I first said it, they looked at me like I was crazy,” LeSaldo said. “They didn’t know they could do this. I was just feeding confidence into them, feeding reassurance. Even when they were struggling, I knew they were good enough. I knew they could do this, and they trusted me.”
Ross flew through its semifinal, defeating No. 4 Honeoye Falls-Lima (Section V), 5-0. The Ravens did not drop a game in four of the matches played. Then Cazenovia didn’t present much of a challenge.
With all eyes on third doubles pair Chloe Stone and Zoe McDonald, they understood the stakes. Their 6-3, 6-2 win over Maria Vaccaro and Mimi Spinelli secured the sweep.
“We’ve never accomplished something like this before,” McDonald said. “This is so big and this team has worked so hard to get to this point. We knew everyone was watching us, but our team has been so supportive no matter what happens. Knowing that is what carried us through.”
Ross earned its first Suffolk title when it defeated five-time reigning champion Bayport-Blue Point on Oct. 15. LeSaldo said that paved the way for the rest of the season.
“This is special for a bunch of different reasons, but I’m so proud of these girls because I think the turning point was the county championship,” LeSaldo said. “That was the first time they thought, ‘Wait, we really could do this.’ ”
The semifinal and championship wins capped a 20-0 season for Ross. Stone said what really makes the state title special is finally seeing all of the team’s hard work pay off.
“We always look out for each other and cheer each other on,” she said. “We all got to this point by putting in a certain level of effort. We put in so much work, we train every day and we put so much time into this, but it has definitely paid off.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
