Alexandra D'Ascenzo
Steve Stein
I Contributing Writer
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64 May 28 • 2015
40v-
here was no sophomore jinx
this season for Alexandra
D'Ascenzo. In fact, just the
opposite.
The 20-year-old from West Bloomfield
was named the Most Improved Player
on the Cornell University women's tennis
team, and she earned an All-Ivy League
Second Team berth with doubles partner
Dena Tanenbaum.
D'Ascenzo went 10-6 in singles and
10-6 in doubles. She was 7-4 at No. 2
singles and 7-3 at No. 1 doubles. The
seven doubles wins were the most of any
Cornell doubles player.
D'Ascenzo and Tanenbaum played
No. 1 doubles in all seven of Cornell's Ivy
League matches and went 3-3 with one
incomplete match.
It's taken a while, DAscenzo said, but
she feels she's finally adjusted to the
mindset of a college tennis player.
"I started playing tennis when I was
10. Until I came to Cornell, the focus was
on me individually" she said. "Now it's all
about the team and not yourself'
Speaking of the Cornell team, the Big
Red rebounded this spring from a forget-
table 2014 season. They were 9-9 overall
and 3-4 in the Ivy League this season
even though there were no seniors and
just two juniors on the roster.
Cornell was winless in the Ivy League
last year. This was only the third time
since 1997 that Cornell won at least three
Ivy League matches, and the three-win
improvement in league play was the
largest from one season to the next since
1994.
Two of Cornell's Ivy League victories
this season came against nationally
ranked Columbia and Harvard.
D'Ascenzo attributed the team's
improvement to a better attitude that
translated into outstanding camarade-
rie — "the best of any team on the East
Coast" — and the players' improved fit-
ness.
Academics are a challenge at any Ivy
League school, and D'Ascenzo has met the
challenge of being a student-athlete. She's
majoring in human biology, health and
society in her quest to become a physical
therapist, and she has a 3.6 grade-point
average.
"You've got to prioritize and have good
time management:' she said. "No matter
how hard you try, though, you occasion-
ally have trouble balancing everything:'
D'Ascenzo was the 2012 winner of the
Southeast Michigan Tennis Association's
Jean and Jerry Hoxie Memorial Award,
presented annually to female and male
players who have made contributions to
tennis through good sportsmanship and
achievements on and off the court.
She's the daughter of Larry DAscenzo
and Leslye Sklar D'Ascenzo.
Barry Good Again
It's springtime at Marian High School
in Bloomfield Hills, which means the
bull's-eye is squarely on the back of Coach
Barry Brodsky's girls soccer team once
again.
The Mustangs were undefeated (14-
0-3) last week headed into their final
regular-season game and gearing up for
what they hope will be another deep run
in the Michigan High School Athletic
Association Division 2 state tournament.
This is Brodsky's 14th year as coach
at Marian. His teams have won five state
championships (2003, 2004, 2009, 2010
and 2012) and been runner-up three
times (2002, 2013 and 2014).
Back-to-back losses to Richland Gull
Lake in the 2013 and 2014 state title
games still sting. Marian fell 1-0 in
double-overtime in 2013 and 2-1 last year.
The Mustangs and Gull Lake played to a
1-1 tie March 21.
"We want to get back to the state cham-
pionship game, especially the girls who
were there the last two years," Brodsky
said.
"But we need to stay focused because
the road to the state title game is never
easy. It seems like we always have at
least one game where we almost lose.
Thankfully, each scare serves as a motiva-
tor and hardens the team.
"I know it's a boring thing to say, but
you can't look ahead. You have to focus on
your next game:'
Marian is in a district tournament this
week at Auburn Hills Avondale. This
year's Division 2 state championship game
will be at 4 p.m. June 12 at Michigan State
University.
Diamond Gem
Kalamazoo College sophomore out-
fielder Ian Kobernick from Huntington
Woods was named to the All-Michigan
Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Second Team in baseball.
The Berkley High School graduate hit
.383 in regular-season conference play.
Kalamazoo went 15-13 in the MIAA and
tied for third place, its best finish in 25
years.
❑
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