On this day 23 years ago…

Batman and Robin. Peanut butter and jelly. Some things just work perfectly together. Bernadette Storey and Christie Russell were just such a pair. The two made up the most decorated doubles team in Stony Brook girls’ tennis history and on October 26, 1987 they won a third straight Conference IV title, the only three Conference Championships in team history at that time. Storey and Russell went into the tournament as the #3 seed and ousted the #2 seeded DiSunno and Brown from East Hampton in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-2.

In the final, the tandem took on the #1 seed of the 28 teams in the tournament, Steidle and Klissas of Southampton. In a close opening set, Storey and Russell won the tiebreak 7-6 (7-5) then finished off the sweep 6-4 in the second set to win their third title. The pair would later earn a berth in the final four of the County Tournament and become the first Stony Brook girls tennis players to make the New York State Tournament. The two-time All-County players were also #4 in New York State in the 1988 United States Tennis Association Scholastic Rankings. They finished their remarkable careers with school records in matches played (70), wins (50), and tournament wins (20) and in the words of Coach Fred Jordan exhibited “hard work, leadership, spirit and sacrifice.”

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