CAPTAIN SYDNEY MOON had victories at third singles against Winchester, Reading, Watertown and Wilmington during Wakefield’s recent stretch of strong play. (File Photo)
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High girls’ tennis team has been playing very well recently as they work toward their season goal of making it back to the state tournament.
It’s safe to say they are well on their way to that accomplishment as they won their second in a row yesterday, 4-1 over Wilmington to improve to 5-6.
The Warriors are now ranked No. 15 in the latest Div. 2 power rankings.
Tennis has long been a sport where the Middlesex League’s two divisions are separated by powerhouse teams. The Liberty Division has multiple teams that are consistently the best in the state. As such, it’s often more about progress than wins when facing competition like that.
The Warriors lost to Reading and Winchester on Thursday and Friday but they won four sets over the two days, an impressive feat against both teams.
“It was the first time in over 20 years that we got even one point off Winchester,” said head coach Kathy Healey. “It was also the first time we got two points off Reading.”
The two matches came after two more tough losses against Belmont and Burlington. The Warriors responded on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Watertown and with their victory over the Wildcats on Monday, they improved to 4-1 overall against Freedom Division opponents.
Against the Rockets, Wakefield’s wins came from captain Sydney Moon at third singles and the first doubles team of Toni Whitson and Erin Leary. Moon beat Lucy Weld 6-2, 6-4. Leary and Whitson beat Lacey Carciero and Sachi Selvakumar 6-2, 6-3. Ariannah Tringali also played very well against Elise Verrier at single singles. Verrier took the first set 6-4 but Tringali battled back to win the second set 6-4. Verrier held on in the third set for another 6-4 decision but as was the case throughout, Wakefield proved they could compete with anyone.
Against Winchester, it was Tringali and Moon who got the two wins at second singles and third singles respectively. Both needed a third set to break a tie and both came up with clutch hits to finish victorious.
Those two matches came at home at the Dobbins Tennis Courts, as did their two against Watertown and Wilmington.
The Warriors’ win over the Wildcats was their second this season as they completed the season sweep.
Captain Emma Fitzgerald cruised at first singles, beating Jaslene Ryou 6-1, 6-0.
It was the first of three victories at singles for Wakefield as Tringali won at second singles 6-2, 6-1 and Moon won at third singles 6-1, 6-1.
Wakefield’s fourth win of the match came at second doubles where Addie Moon and Sienna Catizone beat Julia Kane and Marni McBride in three sets.
The Warriors will compete against rival Melrose for the first time tomorrow at 4:15 p.m.