Cloudy, rainy, and windy weather is not the ideal weather for a tennis match. However, the weather has had no effect on the Girls Varsity Tennis team, led by coaches Gene Valentine, George Conlin, and Stacey Rubin, these past few weeks.
Our first opponents of the season included Lincoln Sudbury and Acton Boxborough, division one schools that are also some of the top teams in the state. This posed a very difficult challenge to the team, due to the fact that it was still very early in the season, and we had yet to establish a definite lineup. Our losses at the start of the season became discouraging but we knew that the worst was now over and done with, and that we had played against the hardest opponents- leaving us with all the division two schools. Also, in order to qualify into the state tournament, we must win half of all the division two schools- meaning that the division one schools do not directly affect the ultimate success of the team.
Despite the rough start, the team has made a comeback, defeating two very important schools, our rivals, Weston, and Concord Carlisle- both division two schools. For those who don’t know, in order to win a tennis match, three out of the five varsity matches, three of which are singles and two of which are doubles, must be won. Both of the victories were neck in neck; the fate of whether or not we would go home with a win was determined on one individual match. Against Weston, Carrie Hecker, at third singles, won 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, resulting in the teams first collective win. In our most recent match against Concord Carlisle, our first doubles pair co-captain Hannah Rubin (not related to the coach) and Lindsay Shelton also won in a three set match, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, losing in a tiebreaker in the second set 6-8. Their win not only marked the entire teams’ victory over Concord Carlisle, but also Wayland’s first win against Concord Carlisle in the past three years.
The girl’s tennis team victories against Concord Carlisle and Weston have been steps toward the state tournament. The girl’s tennis team will be playing Tyngsboro and Bedford in the upcoming weeks, with hopes that this will seal the deal in meeting the qualifications for entering the state tournament.
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