Tennis: Swampscott girls edge Marblehead for NEC title

The Swampscott and Marblehead girls tennis teams were playing for keeps Tuesday with the Northeastern Conference South title on the line.The Big Blue singles players have been a force of nature all season and they rose to the occasion once again, taking all three matches in a 3-2 win over the Magicians. The Big Blue (13-2) took the NEC title outright for the first time in at least three years.?It was a good win,” Swampscott coach Nina Rogers said. “It?s always a good win beating a team like Marblehead.”Anna Raptunovich won at first singles, 6-0. 6-0; Vivien Gere, second singles, 6-0, 6-1 and Veronica Pyatigorskaya, 6-0, 6-1. Marblehead took both doubles matches with Amanda Gilberg-Hannah Cohen winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, in the one spot and Alice Yufa-Lily Frontero winning at second doubles, 6-1, 6-2.Classical 5, English 0At English, the Rams (9-6) took the second of two meetings with English. Anna Athanasopoulos defeated Ashley Lon in first singles, 6-4, 6-4.Kayla O?Brien defeated Alison Tobin in second singles, 6-2, 6-2 and Meredith MacDonald topped Regina Ngaleu in third singles, 6-1, 6-0.In doubles, Katrina Syrakos-Linda Khuth defeated Kim Nguyen-Jasmin Chhim, 6-3, 6-3, and Janelle Way-Shea Dunnigan defeated Cindy Truong-Lily Vu in second doubles, 6-2, 6-0.?The kids always look forward to it (the matches against English),” Classical coach Cathy Ellis said.The match also gave both teams an opportunity to celebrate their seniors and they did so together, with plenty of flowers and balloons to go around. The English seniors are Michelle Fonseca, Ashley Lon, Alison Tobin and Kim Nguyen. The Classical seniors are Jacquelyn Wilson, Katrina Syrakos, Michelle Nwogu, Janelle Way, and Linda Khuth.BOYS TENNISSt. Mary?s 3, Swampscott 2At Lynn, St. Mary?s made it a clean sweep against Swampscott this season.The Spartans (11-3) owned singles, with seventh grader Brady Ryan winning first singles, 6-3, 6-1 to bring his record at first singles to 11-2, and Patrick Morin-Plante winning third singles, 6-0, 6-0. Matt McManus pulled out a three-setter against Swampscott?s Ian Crimmins at second singles, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, that decided the match.The Big Blue had wins from Ruben Isgulov-Mike Pindrus at first doubles, 6-1, 6-0, and Erick Eaton-Tyler Gate, second doubles, 6-2, 6-1. Swampscott is 6-8 and needs two more wins to qualify for the tournament.Danvers 5, Revere 0At Danvers, the Falcons (15-2, 12-1 NEC South) had wins from Nick Lisichenok, first singles, 6-1, 6-0; Toma Nabokin, second singles, 6-0, 6-0; Jim Cunningham, third singles; Kevin Hodgkins-Jim McCarriston, first doubles, 6-1, 6-1, and freshmen Kyle Noring and Joe Kowalsi winning their first varsity match, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.Marblehead 5, Winthrop 0In first singles, senior tri-captain Chris Wigglesworth beat Noah Hodgkins 6-1, 6-1; in second, senior tri-captain Miles Barry swept Mike Norris, 6-0, 6-0; and in third, junior Dimitri Vlassov beat senior Chris Copane 6-0, 6-1. First and second doubles won without losing a game. Juniors Griffin Butterfield and Michael Forte defeated Robby Miles and Sean Gillis; and senior tri-captain Jason Frost and freshman Justin Faia won 6-0, 6-0 over Matt Sennott and Kule Dalton.