The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School girls tennis team, the 2015 division 3 state champions, defeated Lynnfield 4-1 Monday to advance to the MIAA division 3 state finals on Wednesday.
The Vineyarders will play Hopedale High School at 2:30pm at Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury. Hopedale (division 3 central) beat Belchertown (div 3 west) 4-1 in their state semi Monday.
In what has clearly become an unstoppable team, the Vineyard beat division 3 north champions Lynnfield High School on the Newton North High School courts — one of the largest and most expensive high schools ever built in the United States with an almost $200 million price tag — Monday afternoon on an overcast June day.
The Lynnfield Pioneers beat number three seed Manchester-Essex High School 3-2 in the division 3 north finals last Saturday, giving the Pioneers their third straight Division 3 North championship and their 13th sectional title in program history.
The Pioneers went into Monday’s state semis with a 19-1 record and the Vineyarders went into the state semis with a 19-0 record, including playoff wins. The Vineyard’s state semifinal match was a rematch of last year’s state semifinals, which was the division 3 south (MVRHS) versus the division 3 north (Lynnfield).
The Vineyard girls will play the winner of the Hopedale High School (division 3 central) versus Belchertown High School (division 3 west) on Wednesday, June 15 at Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury at 2:30 pm.
The game was played among many distractions, including children yelling at a nearby playground, lots of bustling outside of the courts, and shouts from the fans watching the MIAA division 1 boys semifinals being played at the same time on adjoining courts.
First doubles dynamo Victoria Scott and Lizzie Williamson were off the courts first and handedly took the win 6-2, 6-2.
“They were a good team,” Victoria Scott told The Times after her win. “We knew coming into this match that they were going to be a good team so we just mentally prepared ourselves for one of our biggest matches of the season. It was just about staying focused, getting the ball in and over the net – simple things, and we tried to work on our consistency.”
“It was fun,” Lizzie Williamson told The Times. “We played really well together. The wind was a little bit of a factor, but we did a pretty good job dominating and going through it – taking the lead and taking offense.”
Not five minutes later, Kelly Klaren pulled off another strong win at second singles 6-1, 6-0.
“She had a really interesting game,” Kelly told The Times. “She sliced a lot and she moved me around, but I think I overpowered her with my serve and I pulled out a win.”
The remaining three matches were much more competitive, and the Vineyard needed only one more court to win and move into the division 3 state finals on Wednesday.
Charter school transfer Camilla Prata stole the show when she won her third singles match 6-4, 6-1, and clinched the Vineyard victory.
Camilla’s win gave a technical team win for division 3 state semifinals, regardless of how the other two courts ended up.
“She’s the story of the year,” Chris Scott, Victoria Scott’s father, told The Times after Camilla’s big win.
“They weren’t really long points, they were just really quick,” a grinning Camilla told The Times post-match. “She was a really good player, I was just making sure I was hitting it back – not trying to put any balls away just keeping it steady the entire time.”
“How about Camilla?” excited coach Nina Bramhall said to The Times after her win. “We’re elated.”
Kat Roberts at first singles also pulled out a win in a tight match, 3-6, 6-3, (10-3). Due to the Vineyard already technically winning the semis, Kat and her Lynnfield opponent Sarah Mezini played a 10-point tiebreaker after they split sets to finish their match more quickly.
“She’s definitely a good, hard hitter, and she’s a lefty too which makes it trickier – her serve especially,” Kat told The Times after her victory. “It took a lot of pressure off having Camilla win, so I wasn’t the deciding match again.”
Vineyarder seniors Amadine Muniz and Nuun Eksiri lost at second doubles, 4-6, 3-6.
“It was a really good match,” Amadine told The Times. “They had really strong serves, which we had trouble hitting back to them, and they were strong net players. We still got some games in there, but they just ended up overpowering us.”
“We’re very, very happy for the whole team, especially Camilla with her deciding win. It’s very exciting for her first year here,” Ms. Roberts told The Times. “It’s nice to see the support from all of her teammates, I think it really makes a huge difference.”
“State championships here we come!” shouted jubilant Vineyard teammate Alison Daigle.