Boys tennis
The Vineyarder boys tennis team remained unbeaten with a dominating 5-0 win over host Nantucket Saturday afternoon on the clay courts at the Nantucket Yacht Club. MV put up 6-0, 6-0, double bagels in each match save for a tense battle in third singles between Vineyarder Jake Riis and Nantucket’s Jake Toole.
“Jacob Riis played against a very good player,” Vineyard Coach Kev Lewis said. “They were exchanging leads, and he broke him at 4-4 to go up 5-4, then won the set on his serve and held on for the win.”
First singles Max Potter, second singles Eric Reubens, first doubles Clyde Smith and Teagan Myers, and second doubles Ben Belisle and Jack Marshard had wrapped up their matches, and threw their support to Riis. “I have all my players support the last player to help get him through,” Coach Lewis said. “We were all joyous. [Nantucket] were all gracious. They were all fine boys.”
The Purple were undaunted playing on the clay surface. “The boys have played on clay all winter, so we weren’t swayed by that,” Coach Lewis said. “Nantucket were gracious in defeat. Their coach is first-class, he bought us pizza for the trip back home.”
The previous day on the Ned Fennessy Courts in Oak Bluffs, the Vineyarders shut out a young Dennis-Yarmouth team, 5-0. Last Wednesday afternoon, Nauset met the same fate in North Eastham.
Next up is a trip to Barnstable on Friday. Both teams are 4-0. “Barnstable shares the same record as us,” Coach Lewis said. “They’re going to give us a challenge, and we need it. I’m happy for my boys; they work hard and try hard.”
Girls tennis
The Vineyard girls kept pace with the boys on the tennis court, improving to 4-0 under Coach Bill Rigali.
After defeating Nauset 3-0 at home last Wednesday, the girls blanked Dennis-Yarmouth, 5-0, on the Cape without conceding a single game. No. 1 singles Hunter Tomkins and second singles Cari Giglio rolled to 6-0, 6-0, wins over Olivia Paini and Shelby Gomes, respectively. MV claimed the third singles match by forfeit, then closed out the day with No. 1 doubles Tessa Hammond and Karrine Nivala defeating Sara Dejesus and Lisa Olinyk 6-0, 6-0, and second doubles Andrea Morse and Evelyn Brewer topping Maddy Burgess and Wilannia Thompson by the same count.
Saturday on the Ned Fennessy Courts in Oak Bluffs, the Vineyarders hosted Nantucket and downed the Whalers, 4-1.
The Vineyarders clinched the best-of-five series with three impressive wins in the singles matches. Hunter Tomkins defeated Abby Boylon 6-1, 6-0; Cali Giglio beat Emily Dussalt 6-1, 6-1; and Karrine Nivala won at third singles over Sara Hanlon, 6-1, 6-0.
Both doubles matches went the full three sets. Nantucket took the No. 1 doubles match as Joan Harris and Healy Rey Nant outdueled Tessa Hammond and Andrea Morse 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. The second doubles match came down to a third-set tiebreaker with MV’s Evelyn Brewer and Catherine Langley rallying to edge Grace Gibson and Julia Switlik, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).
The Vineyarders traveled to Falmouth on Monday for a makeup date with the Clippers, and returned home with a 5-0 win. Hunter Tomkins downed Caroline Moskai 6-0, 6-2, at first singles, Cali Giglio beat Rachel Carson 6-0, 6-0, at second singles and MV won third singles by forfeit. Karrine Nivala stepped away from her usual third singles spot to pair with Tessa Hammond at first doubles, and the tandem defeated Genevieve Maranchie and Dianna Losordo, 6-1, 6-1. In second doubles, Paige Anderson and Evelyn Brewer defeated Alexis Christian and Autumn Pease, 6-1, 6-0.
Next up is a match against Sandwich on Wednesday afternoon. The Blue Knights were unable to field a full boys team this season due to a lack of players, and will bring a co-ed squad to the Island.
“Sandwich boys tennis did not have enough players to form a team, and because of that you have to allow them the opportunity to play, and they are allowed to play on the girls team because, technically, they don’t have a boys team,” Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Athletics Director Mark McCarthy said.
Vineyard Coach Bill Rigali, pleased with his team’s play, is ready for the challenge. “We’ve had a very good week,“ he said. “Good playing, the kids have played well, and the weather has been great. We’re looking forward to the challenge of playing two really good matches coming up against Sandwich, the split team with the boys and the girls, and a tough one Friday with Barnstable. So it will give us a good idea of where we’re at.”
Track and field
The MVRHS track and field teams competed against Falmouth on Friday at the Clippers’ new track. donated by the Falmouth Road Race. “The track ran fast,” Vineyard Coach Joe Schroeder said, and his charges found the surface much to their liking. The Vineyard girls — all nine of ’em — won, 83-30. The boys rang up 47 points in the running events, but lost, 84-54, overall.
Annabelle Biggs won four events, all with personal best results. Her leap of 18 feet in the long jump was a foot better than ever before, as was her distance in the triple jump at 33 feet, 4 inches. She broke her previous mark in the 100 meters by three-tenths of a second, and closed in on a school record, clocking in at 12.8 seconds, and finished up by running the 200 in 26.2.
Eloise Christy also won four events, taking the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches); 400m low hurdles (73.1); 400m (67.4), and the javelin. Wren Christy swept the mile (5:41) and two-mile (12:28), and finished second in the javelin.
The boys dominated in the running events. Zach Utz, in Coach Schroeder’s words, “tore it up” in the 800m, breaking the two-minute mark at 1:57.4, the first time the feat has been accomplished since Jeremy Alley-Tarter did it in 2014. “It’s a big accomplishment, since it’s rarely done in any dual meet,” Coach Schroeder said. Daniel da Silva placed second in the 800 at 2:05. Owen Atkins won the mile with a personal best 4:57.7, and Jonathan Norton won both hurdles events, taking the 110 high hurdles in a pb 16.7 and the 400 low hurdles in 61.4.
In the field, Caleb Hatt placed second in the shot put (32 feet, 7 inches), and Shadane Howell took second in the discus (78 feet, 2 inches). “[Caleb’s] been working hard, he’s new to throwing, and he’s been picking up some points for us in the shot and the discus,” Coach Schroeder said. “Those two boys [Hatt and Howell] are trying their best to get as many points as they can for us in the throwing events.”
All in all, Coach Schroeder was pleased with the results. “The track was fast, it was a beautiful day, and the kids took advantage,” he said. “I had some great jumps and some great performances on the track.”
Softball
After earning a big 16-5 win over St. John Paul II last Wednesday in Hyannis, the Vineyarders tried to keep the momentum going at home on Friday, but ran into a tough Sturgis team and ace pitcher Sophia Bruno, who threw a one-hitter, striking out 14 batters in a shutout victory. Izzy Blake singled in the fourth inning to earn the highlight for the hosts. Heading into the game with MV, Bruno had thrown back-to-back no-hitters.
Saturday, Nantucket came to call and left with a 16-2 win. Izzy Blake tripled on a line drive to right in the second inning and scored on a Bethany Cardoza single to third base. The Vineyarders scored again in the fifth, after Ashley Brasefield tripled to right and scored on Vivian Peak’s grounder.
Boys lacrosse
The Vineyarders had a tough three games in the past six days, starting with a sudden-death overtime thriller against Barnstable last Thursday at Dan McCarthy Field in Oak Bluffs.
Unfortunately for the hosts, Nolan Arrascue scored 12 seconds into overtime to give Barnstable a 7-6 win.
The Vineyarders had rallied from 5-3 down heading into the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6-6 after regulation. Bizu Horwitz started the comeback, scoring his second goal of the game 2:24 into the period, with Barnstable a man down. The visitors restored their two-goal lead 2:40 later, and maintained the advantage until Hunter Meader fired the ball into the net from 20 yards out dead center to notch his hat trick and cut the lead to 6-5 with 3:25 remaining. With 1:03 left on the clock and the Vineyarders again enjoying a man advantage, Aiden Marek zipped the ball through traffic to tie the game, setting up the four-minute extra period.
Saturday, the Vineyarders traveled to Nantucket for a big inter-island clash with the Whalers, and came up on the short end of an 8-5 score. Nick BenDavid, Eli Gundersen, Bizu Horwitz, Charlie Lakis, and Hunter Meader scored for MV. Aiden Marek picked up three assists, and Gundersen had one. Graham Stearns was strong in net, and made 13 saves. James Wilkins notched a hat trick to lead the Whalers.
“It was one of those days where we just struggled to get the ball in the net,” Vineyard Coach Chris Greene said. “We’ve been having a hard time offensively finding six guys that are really gelling. It’s kind of been our thing right now, and that was just another day we let a decent team beat us, but it was a game that was very winnable for us. We tried to come back too late, and just ran out of time. Graham [Stearns] played an incredible game. We had a number of guys who played well, but Graham has pretty much been the rock through all of this. You know, when they come here, I think it will be a different outcome.”
The Vineyarders were back at home on Tuesday to face an outstanding Sandwich team, and fell to the Black Knights, 14-3. Avery Richardson scored five goals to lead the visitors. Zander Amaral scored a pair of goals for MV, Hunter Meader added another, and Eli Gundersen had an assist. Graham Stearns made 11 saves.
“Sandwich is the class of the league. We knew that going into the season,” Coach Greene said. “They’re a class program, and one that we aspire to be like.”
MV heads for Sturgis East on Friday. Thursday’s game at Nauset was rescheduled for June 15, due to AP exams.
Girls lacrosse
Nantucket visited the Vineyarders in the girls lacrosse home opener, Saturday at Dan McCarthy Field. Coach Jo Douglas’ young charges lost to the Whalers, 15-5, but continued to improve. Maggie Best scored twice, with Ally Dike, Caroline Kelleher, and Nellie Long adding a goal apiece. Clara Mikos chipped in with an assist. The Vineyard JV squad followed up with a 3-2 win. Aileen Mahoney, Alana Nevin, and Engracia Scheller scored the goals in what Coach Douglas called a “great competitive game.”
Tuesday afternoon, MV played on the road against a tough Sandwich side. Kelleher had both goals in the 15-2 loss.
“We are a very young team,” Coach Douglas said. “We only have three juniors on varsity, and we have no seniors, so we are primarily a freshman, sophomore team. Last year we didn’t have a season because of COVID, so basically, the sophomores haven’t had a high school season yet — this is their first, so that means that they’re basically freshmen in terms of playing at the high school level with high school rules.”
The Vineyarders have a lot to take in. “We are definitely learning a lot,” Coach Douglas said. “We’re working on zonal defense, which is all relatively new but they’re picking that up, and we’re working on plays and spreading out on attack, and attacking movement, and working on transitions in the midfield, so we are improving every game, which has been awesome. I’m excited for the rest of the season and in the years to come, because everyone will be joining us next year. We’re not losing anyone.”
The Vineyarders are back in action against Nauset at home on Friday, starting at 3 pm.
Sailing
The Vineyarders followed up a 5-0 win over Barnstable on May 13 with another 5-0 win against Sturgis, Tuesday afternoon on Lagoon Pond.
With winds gusting over 20 knots, Vineyard Coach Andrew Burr rotated many of the freshmen and sophomores on the roster, giving them a chance to learn in the moment and experience their first varsity series. “The new kids are getting better training than they would get at practice,” Coach Burr said.
In the first race, MV started varsity skippers and crew of Zach Ward/Trent Bilodeau; Caleb Burt/Juliet Morse; and Miles Wolfe/Delilah Hammarland.
From there, Felix Colon rotated into the mix, along with Yossi Monahan, Juliet Morse, Ingrid Moore, Michaela Benefit, and Jocelyn Baliunas.
“Even with Joe Serpa graduating, we are an exceptionally good team,” Coach Burr said. “Miles and Zach are skippers who now see the game as a whole. They are driving the boats at maximum velocity and have to make decisions on what the play is. They now have a clearer understanding of the chess game on the water. It’s more natural and intuitive for them.”
After sailing against Nauset on Wednesday, the Vineyarders sail at Dartmouth on Monday and Cape Cod Academy on Tuesday.
