DANVERS — And then there were two. As in two Lynnfield teams still alive and playing for a spring state championship.
Less than 24 hours after the No. 1 boys tennis team clinched its spot in the Division 4 final, the No. 3 girls team followed suit at St. John’s Prep, defeating No. 2 Manchester-Essex, 3-2, in the Final Four. The girls will square off against top-seeded Hamilton-Wenham (TBD), the two-time defending Division 4 state champion.
Pioneers’ head coach Craig Stone said the game plan against the Generals will be quite different.
“All year long, we’ve relied so much on first and second singles, but Hamilton-Wenham’s top two singles players are ranked and would easily be No. 1s on any team,” Stone said. “So, likely, we’ll need to rely on three down in order to win. Today was a great win, especially considering our history with Manchester-Essex. To be able to come back and beat them the way we did was special.”
As it had earlier in the tournament, the girls match came down to Maddie Sieve at third singles. With the team match tied, 2-2, she and opponent Sienna Crockett were locked in a decisive third-set battle. Leading 5-3, Sieve broke Crockett’s serve in a deuce game (her fourth of the set) to polish off a come-from-behind 3-6, 5-2, 6-3 win.
“I think going into this, I was really nervous because I had played her twice. They were so close but I lost them and I knew I could not lose to her for a third time,” Sieve said. This was my last time playing her, so I really wanted to win for my teammates.”
Manchester-Essex, the 2023 finalist in the Division 4 tournament, has been Lynnfield’s Achilles’ heel of late, ending the Pioneers’ ride in the state tournament the last three years, including last year, when the Hornets defeated the Pioneers, 3-2, in the Final Four. During the regular season, the Hornets defeated the Pioneers, 3-2, with Lynnfield’s only wins coming from Paige Martino at first singles and Lily Alves at second singles.
Wednesday’s match was shaping up to be more of the same. Martino needed less than an hour to dispatch Grayson Crocker at first singles, 6-2, 6-2. The Hornets regrouped and took a 2-1 lead after winning both doubles matches in straight sets.
Alves knotted the match at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Nina Zalosh at second singles to set the stage for Sieve, who credited Alves and Martino.
“Paige and Lily are the rocks of the team. I’m getting all of this attention right now, but if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here,” Sieve said. “For them to go out and get those two points was huge.”
Stone said it’s all about “WIN.”
“I have a favorite acronym, WIN, which normally means ‘What’s Important Now,'” he said. “But this Saturday, it means what it says – win.”
Alves said it feels great to be one of two Pioneer teams still alive playing for a state championship.
“It’s just awesome,” she said. “And today was, too, to have everyone, the varsity and the JV cheering everyone on was amazing.”
Martino said she is “beyond proud” of her teammates.
“Win or lose Saturday, this could not be a better ending to our season to be playing for a state championship. Being there is going to be amazing. After losing to Manchester-Essex here on this court last year, today is déjà vu, only we reversed it,” she said. “Hamilton-Wenham is a tough team, so it will be competitive. We are so happy to be there and will put our best foot forward at practice. We know we have one more to go, so hopefully we can pull it off.”
Sieve said that while advancing to the Final Four for a second straight was a “big accomplishment for us,” making it to the final is even bigger.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Sieve said. “I am super excited about playing in the final. All we can do is keep playing and doing our thing.”
