Newburgh Free Academy freshman Vivienne Bucci fell one win short of qualifying for the New York State girls’ tennis tournament on Wednesday when she placed fourth at the Section 9 championships at MatchPoint Tennis in Goshen.

Bucci was sent to the third-place match when she was beaten in straight sets, 6-0, 7-5, by Our Lady of Lourdes’ Tiffany Ren, who entered the tournament as the top seed from the Mid Hudson Athletic League.

That’s where she had a rematch with Middletown’s Sasha Henesy, the reigning Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association champion, who defeated Bucci a week earlier in a three-set, three-hour marathon match to determine the champion.

With a state berth on the line this time, the match was shorter – only two hours – with Henesy winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to take the final state berth.

Bucci reached the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Warwick’s Grace Cornelius in the quarterfinals. She opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Highland’s Lena Tran in the first round.

Newburgh’s doubles team of Cora Kerin and Zara Tranquada advanced to the quarterfinals before they were defeated by Warwick’s team of Annika Brezina and Celia Greco. They opened the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Marlboro’s Emma LaPolla and Gwen Benninger in the first round.

The state tournament was played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing. Section 9’s top 3 singles players and doubles teams qualified for the tournament.
Ren won the singles championship with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win over Washingtonville’s Ally Davis.

Middletown’s Alexis Michael and Sandra Habwe won the sectional doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Warwick’s Leah Scalo and Keri Leahey. Brezina and Greco finished third to clinch the final state berth.