Team | Final |
---|---|
Andover | 3 |
Shrewsbury | 2 |
Wednesday, June, 11
By Bill Burt
Sports editor
WORCESTER — From afar, the Andover High girls tennis team looked like a two-ton wrecking ball.
Undefeated regular season. Merrimack Valley Conference champions. Div. 1 North Sectional champions. And now, after yesterday's triumph, state champions, at 21-0.
"If everybody only knew how tough it was," said Andover coach Alan Hibino. "We had a great season, but it has never been easy. But that's why it's been so much fun. We earned every win, every match."
While there were a lot of 5-0 victories — 14 to be exact — there were three nail-biting, 3-2 victories over long-time tennis powerhouses Winchester, Westford and Lexington.
And then when the state tournamented started on May 31, Andover beat Acton-Boxboro, 3-2, before dusting Masconomet Regional, 5-0.
Then came three straight meetings against Westford, Barnstable and, yesterday, Shrewsbury, that not only ended in 3-2 victories for Andover, but they came down to the final match.
Better yet, in all of those 3-2 wins in the state tourney, the final match was won by four different Andover singles players/doubles teams.
"You want to talk about a team?" said Hibino. "That's what we were from the Day 1, a great team. It wasn't one girl or one doubles team. It was all of them. I can say that in the state tournament, every person who played had a key role in us winning. That doesn't happen often."
The No. 2 doubles team of Laurie-Maude Chenard and Sydney Ferry, both juniors, bested Shrewsbury, 6-4, 6-1 to cap the state title. The duo trailed 4-1 in the first set before winning 11 of the next 12 games.
Local winners:
Singles: 1. (S) Jessica Perkins def. (A) Samantha Camilo, 6-0, 6-0; 2. (A) Karena Yan def. (S) Micaela Stowe, 6-0, 6-1; 3. (A) Courtney Nash def. (S) Abbey Scott, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles: 1. (S) Radhika Duvvuri/Sonali Razday def. (A) Paige Webster/Pooja Mukund, 7-5, 6-1; 2. (A) Laurie Maude Chenard/Sydney Ferry def. (S) Celine Mende and Sarabhi Godbole, 6-4, 6-
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