By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Staff
The girls’ tennis team had a very impressive regular season, ending with a 15–1 record and earning the 2nd seed in D3. Their only loss was 3–2 to Martha’s Vineyard Regional, who has taken the 1st seed with an undefeated 16–0 record. Notably, Martha’s Vineyard was also the team the Raiders defeated 5–0 in the finals last year to win the championship. That year, Dover-Sherborn was the 1st seed with a 16–0 record while Martha’s Vineyard was the 3rd with a 15–1 record.
The Raiders won their first playoff match 5 sets to 0 against 31st-seeded Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter on May 28th. In the second round, they also shut out 15th-seeded Boston Latin Academy 5–0 on June 2nd. Down to the final 8 last week, the Raiders defeated Old Rochester Regional (7th) 4–1. Now, Dover-Sherborn has earned themselves a spot in the semifinals, which will have been played in Westford on Wednesday, June 10th against 6th-seeded Swampscott (18–0).
The other semifinals pair will be 1st-seeded Martha’s Vineyard Regional and the winner of Ursuline Academy (4th, 14–2) vs. Weston (12th, 3–12). Being the 1st seed and the only team to defeat the Raiders in the regular season, Martha’s Vineyard is the biggest concern. However, the Raiders are at their heels in both situations, the 2nd seed that lost by just one set earlier in the season. Should the two face each other in the finals for the second year in a row, it will be an exciting match. But first, Dover-Sherborn will need to have defeated Swampscott in their first on the road match of the playoffs.
When asked if they feel excited or get more nervous as the competition gets tougher, Captain Leah Hills responded: “It’s a mix of both, I mean, I think we’re all super excited to advance every time, but obviously there’s nerves every game.”
“We enjoy the pressure,” fellow captain Mia Griebel added.
Speaking about the regular season, Griebel said: “I would say that going out of the regular season, I think that we’re really striving to achieve what we can—if it’s better or similar to last year—so I think that everyone’s really hungry for more.”
“Yeah, I mean I sort of feel the exact same way,” Hills agreed, “We’re all in on this, we have a whole bunch of returning players who are all just—seniors, most of them are seniors, so it’s like this is just our last chance.”
Girls’ tennis is the last Dover-Sherborn team left in the playoffs. Raiders’ schedules can be accessed online at: arbiterlive.com, while power rankings and brackets can be found at miaa.net/game-day/tournament-central.
