DANVERS — The top-seeded Lynnfield girls tennis team (18-3) battled to the bitter end, but came up a couple of points short, losing to No. 4 Hamilton-Wenham, 3-2, in the semifinals of the Division 4 tournament held at St. John’s Prep Wednesday.
This one could not have gotten any closer.
Tied, 2-2, the match came down to the first doubles match, pitting Lynnfield senior captain Ella Hayman and junior Vicky McCrann against the Generals’ Olivia Romans and Evelyn Esdaile.
After dropping the first set, 1-6, Hayman/McCrann kept the Pioneers’ hopes of playing for a state championship for a second consecutive year alive with a gritty 7-5 win in the second set to force a tiebreaker.
Tied, 4-4, the Generals won three of the final four points to polish off the win and punch their ticket to Saturday’s championship match at M.I.T., where they will be gunning for a fourth straight state title.
Their opponent will be a familiar foe in No. 6 Manchester-Essex, which upset No. 2 Bromfield, 3-2, Wednesday at Saint John’s.
“Today couldn’t have been any closer – all the way around in all five spots,” said Lynnfield Coach Craig Stone. “As I have said before, it’s so cool in high school tennis to have the gallery that we had, all focusing on watching those four athletes play the best tennis that they can possibly play. Obviously, one team is going to win and I wish it was our team, but, while it didn’t end the way we hoped, we can easily hold our heads high.”
The match was the second between the Cape Ann League rivals this season. Hamilton-Wenham, which swept the Pioneers, 5-0, in the state finals last season, prevailed in the first meeting, also by a 3-2 margin.
This one didn’t start well for Lynnfield.
The first singles match was a marquee matchup between the two most dominant players in the Cape Ann League with Lynnfield senior captain Paige Martino, the all-time leader in career wins and two-time CAL Kinney Division Player of the Year, taking on the Generals’ Naomi Provost, the CAL Baker Division Player of the Year.
The first set was back and forth from start to finish before Provost prevailed, 6-4. She then took the second set, 6-2, to stake the Generals to a 1-0 lead.
Junior captain Lily Alves followed with a hard-fought 1-6, 5-7 loss to junior Emily McIntosh to put the Pioneers in a 0-2 hole.
In a sign that the future is bright, three Lynnfield freshmen stepped up in a big way. The second doubles team of Kathleen Brown and Christine Choi played like seasoned veterans, defeating junior Gabriella Jewett and sophomore Sofie Greene in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Kamila Khiat showed she, too, was up for the challenge, taking a tight match at third singles against freshman Charlotte Ireland, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), to set the stage for Hayman/McCrann. The match turned out to be a marathon with the third set alone taking nearly an hour.
Hayman/McCrann led almost every game and had several chances to break serve, but the Generals’ duo gave as good as it got, building a 5-4 lead after holding serve. Faced with the prospect of elimination, Hayman held serve, thanks to a couple of clutch lob shots and a killer McCrann volley to tie the match, 5-5.
With McCrann serving, Lynnfield jumped out to a 30-0 lead and still led 40-15, but Hamilton-Wenham fought back to deuce, only to drop the next two points to put Lynnfield in the driver’s seat with a 6-5 lead. Leading 40-15, Hayman kept the game alive with a winning volley, only to come up short on the next point, setting the stage for a tie break.
“A couple of volleys here or there, an overhead here or there, it just came down to a little bit of execution,” Stone said. “It was a great match.”
Stone said that while the tournament didn’t end with a win on the court, the year was full of positives.
“This year, there was a lot of growth and a lot of energy and enthusiasm with a lot of support for each other. For it to come down to a tiebreaker at 2-2 at this level is a compliment to the players and everything they’ve been able to accomplish during the season.”
While disappointed, Martino and Hayman were gracious in defeat.
“I guess today was about the bittersweetness of it all,” Martino said. “Personally, I definitely played better than usual. I’m proud of what I put out there, but Ella and Vicky were the match of the day. They went out there and did their best.”
“It was a really close match and credit to Hamilton-Wenham,” Hayman said. “Just coming back to that third-set tiebreaker, even though it was not the outcome we wanted. I’m so proud of our whole team. For Paige to get six games in her match against Naomi was really amazing. The freshmen really pulled through. It was definitely nervewracking being the only match left on the court (for almost an hour). We did the best we could and obviously the tiebreaker went their way and they played a great game.”
Stone gave a shoutout to his two senior captains.
“Paige played the match of her life today,” he said. “In their first match, Naomi controlled the match, but today, Paige was even up early in the first set. To play like that against a top-notch player like Naomi is quite a feat, so I am pleased that, in her last match, she was able to play so well against such a quality player.
“Ella got into one varsity match her freshman year and played second doubles her sophomore year and first doubles the last two years. To watch her grow as a player, and person, and leader was incredible. She thoroughly understands the game and what she needs to do. What she might have lacked in execution, she makes up so much more in strategy and understanding. I like to refer to her as a second coach on the court.”
