LYNNFIELD — Talk about a busy stretch. Lynnfield’s girls tennis team (14-2) wrapped up a dizzying week with its sixth match in six days, completing a suspended match in enemy territory against Newburyport.
The good news, however, came earlier in the week when the Cape Ann League-winning Pioneers punched their ticket to the state tournament for the 42nd consecutive year. All of them have come with Coach Craig Stone at the helm.
In Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Newburyport, the deciding match was at second doubles. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, they had to forfeit due to a missing player.
Lynnfield winners were Paige Martino at first singles and Ella Hayman/Vicky McCrann at first doubles. The match leveled the season series, 1-1, with Lynnfield winning a 5-0 sweep in the first meeting between the Cape Ann League rivals this spring.
“Both our teams are so evenly-matched. We could play this contest a third time and still have a totally different team score,” Stone said. “All matches could not have been closer. I am so impressed with our team’s level of play, their sportsmanship, and their ability to move on and accept the next challenge.”
This past week, the Pioneers defeated Amesbury (5-0 final), Manchester-Essex (3-2 final), Pentucket (5-0 final), North Reading (5-0 final), and Triton (5-0 final) before the Newburyport match.
As for the narrow escape against Manchester-Essex, Martino secured a first singles win, Lily Alves got the job done at second singles, and the second doubles match was won by Kathleen Brown and Christine Choi.
“It felt like tournament time all over again,” Stone said. “We need to continue to have more competitive matches like this to better prepare for what is ahead.”
