Lynnfield wins Division 3 state girls tennis title

SHREWSBURY – The Lynnfield girls tennis team’s unforgettable season came to an end, literally and figuratively, in picture-perfect fashion as the Pioneers hoisted the MIAA Division 3 state championship trophy for the cameras following a 4-1 victory over Notre Dame (Worcester) on Wednesday afternoon.Coach Craig Stone and Co. wasted little time in locking up the hardware, taking the match’s first three decisions before anxiously awaiting the day’s final point.”I told the kids at the beginning of the season that this could be a special year. I didn’t think it would be this special,” laughed Stone who has been at the helm for four state titles.”As each match came and went I raised the bar a little higher. The girls responded each and every time.”Lynnfield’s regular-season featured a Cape Ann League title and a pristine 16-0 record that earned the Pioneers the North Sectional’s top-seed and a first-round bye. The Pioneers path to Wednesday’s finale consisted of wins against Ipswich (5-0), Manchester (4-1) and Swampscott (3-2) before a 3-2 triumph over Ursuline Academy in the state-semifinals.”This team has been knocking at the door for the past three or four years now,” said Stone. “We lost to eventual state-champs in Manchester, Bedford and Westford so being able to get through our section made us feel pretty good about our chances this year.”A pair of freshman gave Lynnfield its opening and clinching victories.Sarah Mezini defeated Tori Oates (6-2, 6-1) at first singles to get the eventual victors off and running before Katie Nevils hammered the final nail in the Rebel’s coffin with a 6-1, 6-0 third singles victory over Mary Sullivan.Trailing 2-0 in set one, Mezini found her grove with consecutive points, the latter on a broken serve. The Pioneer freshman used three service-points (5 total) to take a 3-2 lead before closing the set out against a visibly frustrated Oates.”Sarah entered the program with a tremendous amount of skills and court presence. There’s really no ceiling to her game,” said Stone of Mezini who cruised in the second set. “I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of progression she makes going forward.”Following a win at first doubles from Danielle Soden and Olivia Skelley (6-2, 6-2 over Caroline Kelly-Hannah Mullaney), Nevils closed out a dominant performance, granting the Lynnfield crowd an appropriate, yet premature celebration given the timing.”Katie worked her way into the No.3 spot late in the season and has taken some lumps in the tournament so it was nice to see her clinch the win,” explained Stone.Notre Dame’s lone win came from Julia Witt (25-0) who prevailed 10-6 in a third-set tiebreaker against Kelley Nevils. The latter took the opener 7-5 before Witt rallied for a 6-0 win.At second doubles, the senior-duo of Logan and Sloan Colby-Nunziato provided a fitting and finishing touch on their own undefeated-season with a 7-6, 6-1 triumph over Carolyn Brady-Julia Crowley. The twins were at their best with the former manning the net while the latter cleaned up on the baseline.”I’m especially pleased for the seniors,” said Stone of the sisters and Soden. “They came into the program hearing about teams that had made runs to the finals and now they’ve had their chance. They worked hard to get here and they deserve this.””We returned our nucleus pretty much intact,” he said. “The biggest thing was having basically two points secured coming into matches from Sarah and the twins meaning our solid core needed just one win. We had five-point potential in every match we played because of our talent and depth and that was huge.Kelley’s loss came in a tiebreaker to a girl that finished the year undefeated (24-0).