GREENFIELD — The Greenfield girls tennis team closed out its season on a high note on Friday, but Mohawk Trail didn’t make it easy for them.
With a slew of close matches, the young Green Wave were able to pull off a pair of singles wins while Kaitlyn Collins and Rory Cronen-Townsend came out with a win in No. 1 doubles to seal a 3-2 Greenfield victory at the Davis Street Courts.
The Green Wave close out their season with a 3-5 record while the Warriors — who was also playing in their final match of the season — fall to 2-5. With neither team having a senior on the roster, both teams feel the future is bright with their program.
“It was a crazy year,” said Kaitlyn Phillips, the Green Wave’s No. 3 singles player. “It’s been a tough season. Half of our team is brand new so it’s been difficult and we’ve been doing our best. We didn’t know what was going to happen this year until later on, then it was a shortened season. We made the most of it. Since we had so little time to practice before our first game, all the experienced girls are just trying to help everyone out and teach them the ropes in this weird year.”
Greenfield captain Jenna Keith came out with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph in No. 1 singles over Mohawk Trail’s Avery Dupree, with Keith feeling she played as well as she has all season.
“It went well today,” Keith said. “I’ve definitely gotten better throughout the year. Today was my best match of the season. A lot of my serves went in but usually they don’t.”
After the spring tennis season was canceled last year, the young players on both teams lost a season of experience and a year to improve their skill set.
With a shorter season this year, players like Dupree feel they are starting to find their groove right as the season is ending.
“It was really difficult missing last year,” Dupree said. “I was at the top of my game for a bit and that break didn’t help my skill level. I came back pretty rusty. Missing a year definitely hurt my skills but I’ve came back and am on the rise now.”
Despite the year off, Dupree found ways to improve her game. By playing teams in the Tri-County North Division multiple times, she was able to see just how much she grew from match-to-match.
“I conditioned a lot,” Dupree said. “I got to the court as much as I could and showed up every day and did my best. Playing each team twice has been good for me to see how much I’ve improved and to see how much everyone else has improved. It’s been a great season.”
Greenfield’s Estera Covalenco pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 victory in No. 2 singles over Warrior Paige King.
In a back-and-forth match, Covalenco relied on her conditioning to pull out the victory on a hot day on the court.
“It was fun but nerve-wracking,” Covalenco said. “In the beginning I was trying to get good shots in but I stopped caring because I knew we were both tired so I just tried to extend it as long as I could until one of us got tired. I could still go play another two hours if I wanted to.”
Like most players, Covalenco is looking forward to next season where Greenfield will bring back and experienced roster.
“This was more of a practice season for next season,” Covalenco said. “Hopefully, we can dominate next season.”
Palmer King got the first Mohawk Trail’s win of the day, defeating Phillips 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles.
Collins and Cronen-Townsend picked up a 7-5, 6-1 triumph in No. 1 doubles over Warriors Lizzie Lynch and Lydia Foote, giving the Green Wave the victory.
For players like Lynch — an eighth-grader who had no tennis experience before this season — this season has been a great building block for years to come.
“I wanted to play last year but we couldn’t so that stunk,” Lydia Foote said. “I have a whole new perspective now after playing. I thought it was a preppy sport but everyone is so nice and I love being on the team. It’s really fun and I like it. The coaches are great, they know how to start you off. A lot has changed throughout the season. I couldn’t hit a ball when I first got on the tennis court but now I feel confident.”
The final match of the day came down to a tiebreaker, with Greenfield’s Aisha Pruitt-Gonzalez and Rebecca Covalenco proving to be an even match for Warriors Elias Crowell and Lexi Chasse.
After Crowell and Chasse took the first set, 6-4, Pruitt-Gonzalez and Covalenco responded with a 6-3 win to force a tiebreaker, which was won by Crowell and Chasse, 13-11.