Walpole Girls Tennis lost to Newton North 5-0 on May 9 to make their record 1-7. To start the match, sophomore Lauren Lavanchy led the Walpole singles as the first player for varsity. Newton North’s first singles starter defeated Lavanchy in both sets with a score of 0-6.
“Lauren Lavanchy is my number one singles girl and she has a winning record. She’s playing really well and I’m very proud of her and all of the girls,” Coach Dianne Heinold said.
Junior Haley Gilmore, the second varsity singles starter, also lost both sets 0-6 to Newton North. Lastly, freshman Nidhi Byragoni was the third and final varsity singles starter, who also lost both sets of the match.
“My hope [for the rest of the season] is that we all improve a little bit,” said Haley Gilmore, “But as a strength, team spirit is definitely one of our best features.”
Senior captains Lillie Hunter and Grace Donovan started as the first varsity doubles team. Even though they were still defeated, they only lost by two matches in the final set. The two captains played the longest varsity match of the day. Also, juniors Smera Gora and Emily Hendricks were the second and final starters for the varsity doubles. They also lost both sets of their match to Newton North.
“Even though we haven’t been winning a lot of matches, all of the girls have been playing well,” said sophomore Emily Duseau.
To start on JV, sophomore Tiana Rodriguez and junior Katherine Duseau lost their doubles match as well. However, the losses did not affect their team spirit.
“So far, [the season] has been challenging but we’ve played well. I hope that we get more wins and just play our best,” said Tiana Rodriguez.
The team attributes some of their weaknesses within the games to a lack of practice before the season, due to the poor weather conditions. The snow on the tennis courts may not have been ideal to start the season, but the team hopes to persevere in the future and win their remaining matches.
“So far, the season has been a little rough because of the weather, and we haven’t had many practices,” said Coach Dianne Heinold. “It’s been tough getting a groove going, but the girls are getting better throughout every match that we play.”
The team was able to win a previous match against Milton, 3-2. Overall, the varsity tennis team hopes to improve their skills and win their remaining matches.
“It’s been a good season [so far] and we’ve all tried our hardest,” said Lauren Lavanchy. “It might not show in our scores, but we all put in the effort.”