DANVERS — The Lynnfield girls tennis team gave it its all, battling with archrival Manchester-Essex for more than two hours at St. John’s Prep Thursday for the right to play for a state Division 4 championship Saturday at MIT.
In the end, however, the Hornets had just a little more left in the tank, pulling out a 4-1 win in a match that was closer than the final score would suggest. The match was a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinal, which was won by the Hornets, 3-2.
“When we played them earlier in the year (a 4-1 loss) all three singles matches were in it, but you could see the inexperience in doubles,” Lynnfield coach Craig Stone said. “This time, the turnaround to get to the point where the singles were still in it and first doubles win the first set and come back to be down only 5-4 in the second, so we were still up there.”
Stone continued.
“Every year, you hope to do better, and to say that we exceeded expectations is an understatement. These kids have gone above and beyond what we hoped for. I think my expectations and their expectations were exceeded which says how motivated they are.”
The match of the day was the second singles match between Pioneer senior captain Genna Gioioso and Hornets’ senior Calista Lai. Lai cruised to a 6-0 win in the first set. With the Hornets on top 2-0 and Lai leading the second set, 5-4, and Gioioso serving to stay in the match, things looked bleak for the Pioneers. Seven times in the game, the game reached deuce. Gioioso faced four set and match points but survived every one to win the game when she served to Lai’s backhand, forcing a long return, to tie the set at 5-5. Gioioso went on to win the set 7-5, forcing a decisive third set, won by Lai in a super tiebreaker, 10-6 after the Hornets clinched the match with a win at first doubles.
“How many match points did she save, not only for her, but for the team,” said Stone. “If she doesn’t save those points, our season is over.”
“Honestly my strategy was just to be aggressive,” Gioioso said. “My last match I was too tentative and I knew I had to go in my last match and give it my best so during that last deuce game, I was nervous, but I knew I needed to do everything I could to win the game and keep our chances alive.
Gioioso said she felt she accomplished what she set out to do.
“I definitely charged the net the way I wanted to in the end. At the beginning of the first set, I had a hard time making my volleys, but once I figured out my strategy and really just took it when I was at the net, that really helped. Coach Stone gave me good advice to attack her backhand, which set me up to go to the net and then win the point.”
The Hornets jumped to a 1-0 lead in less than an hour with a 6-1, 6-2 win at second doubles over sophomore Ella Hayman and freshman Vicky McCrann. About 10 minutes later, Pioneer senior captain Maddie Sieve lost her third singles match, 1-6, 2-6 to double the Hornets’ lead to 2-0.
With Gioioso fighting to extend the match, Paige Martino put the Pioneers on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1. She dropped the first set 4-6, but rallied to win the next two sets by identical 6-1 scores.
Gioioso commended Paige Martino for a strong comeback win at first singles.
“That’s our motto, to always come back strong. We like to keep going and we never give up no matter how down we are. Paige lost that first set, but I knew she would stay focused and she did just that and came back strong. It was a great effort on her part.”
Also decided during Gioioso’s two-hour marathon match was the first doubles match. After winning the first set 6-4, junior Leticia Marafon and freshman Lily Alves dropped the next two sets, 4-6, 0-6.
Stone said he has high hopes for next year.
“We put three new people in the lineup who, combined, had only one varsity match of experience. Altogether we had eight players who eventually ended up in the lineup at some point with only one combined varsity match,” Stone said. “I hate to lose Genna, but the fact that we have everybody else coming back knowing we can play at this level and if everybody takes it to the next level is promising. What you expect with any athlete is you have to keep getting instructions and those practice matches and have competitive experiences, if you have all those three in the off-season, when you come back, you are much higher than before.”
