Glen Cove Girls Tennis Beats Bethpage

Big Red clinches playoff berth with spirited tennis on Wednesday at Glen Cove High School.

Glen Cove (8-2) clinched a playoff berth with a 6.5-0.5 victory against Bethpage (1-7) team on Wednesday in a Conference III-A girl's tennis matchup. Led by a 6-0, 6-0 shutout performance from junior Megan Pemberton, Big Red cruised to their fifth consecutive win. The loss ousted Bethpage from postseason contention and dropped them to sixth place in the conference. Heros: Glen Cove's Alex Gerin (6-0, 6-1), Kelly Ng (6-0, 6-0) and Megan Pemberton (6-0, 6-0) had dominant performances in singles matches.  Turning Point: Big Red's Kellie Williams and Viola Sawyer teamed up for a 6-1, 6-0 win over Christina Wing and Konza Ahmad in first doubles play. Williams routinely sprayed the ball cross-court with ease, showing off an unflappable backhand …

• Photos (5)

Sports Notebook

Soccer Star Leads the Fight Against Autism

Glen Cove midfielder Vinny DiPaola spent the summer volunteering as a trainer for young athletes with autism.

When Glen Cove midfielder Vinny DiPaola isn't challenging the opposition on the soccer field, he volunteers his time leading the fight against autism through the sport. DiPaola spent the summer as a volunteer trainer for TOP Soccer, a community-based training and team placement soccer program for young athletes with autism. The program was run by the Auburndale Soccer Club in Flushing from June through August of 2010. TOP Soccer provides children with developmental disorders the opportunity to participate in an organized sports program in a welcoming and nurturing environment. The program is designed to give everyone a chance to play, and to foster the values of teamwork, pride, and accomplishment within each player. "I gained a new …

• Photos (3)

Big Red Tennis Team Looks to Ace the Competition

Glen Cove High's varsity boys' squad aims to reach playoff level this season.

While working as the assistant wrestling team coach at Robert M. Finley Middle School and Glen Cove High School, Chris MacDonald also searched for a sport to coach during the spring of 2008. Fortunately for MacDonald, the high school's boys' varsity tennis head coach position opened up and, MacDonald said, he immediately jumped at the opportunity to lead the program. His first order of business was to increase the seven players on his roster to 11, which is the required number for league play. MacDonald noted that he utilized his wrestling resources, recruited a few grapplers, and posted flyers all over the high school to help drum up interest in the program.  And his hard work has shown fantastic results. "When I took over the team, we …

• Photos (4)