Published June 6, 2025
By JEN GENTILE
WAYLAND — The Melrose High girls’ tennis team saw their postseason end in the second round of playoffs on May 29 against Wayland, 5-0. But not without a solid 3-2 Div. 2 round one playoff win over Malden Catholic, 3-2 on May 27.
Melrose (8-11) drew the No. 31 spot in the Div. 2 field and were pitted against No. 34 Malden Catholic (9-7) at home.
Competing in each rotations were:
First Singles: Lucia Faulkenberry
Second Singles: Mary Atkinson
Third Single: Tess Isakson
First Doubles: Mina Zheng and Natalia Menjivar
Second Doubles: Lexi Miller and Meryl Stratford
Prevailing against Malden Catholic was both doubles teams of Zheng and Menjivar and Miller and Stratford and Tess Isakson at third singles.
Coach Lydia Mays considered it an exciting match, especially in front of home town fans.
“Lexi and Meryl had to show a lot of strength and fortitude because when they got on the court they knew the match came down to them. They played brilliantly hitting the ball with pace and finding alleys. It was a very good home match.”
Pitted against No. 2 seed Wayland days later, on the road, posed some challenges, and while the Melrose players came up empty in each match, coach Mays is proud of their efforts and especially the work of her seniors in their final MHS match.
“The Wayland match was a lot different they were very, very good,” she says. “I will miss my senior captains Natalia and Mina because they are so committed to the sport and they took on the leadership role with ease.”
As for next season, she would love to see the team’s returning players fine tune their skills in the off season.
She notes, “I want all my girls to play tennis in the off season. We can all look to make improvements for next year.”