Schools
Marblehead Girls' Tennis Prevails
Swampscott falls at home as the Header girls remain unbeaten in conference play with 4-1 win Monday afternoon.
Two very good tennis teams got together Monday afternoon at the Ralph Earle Tennis Courts in Swampscott, and at the end of the day, Marblehead went home with a 4-1 win.
The Big Blue came into Monday’s matches at 11-2 overall, 7-1 in the conference, that one conference loss coming against Marblehead earlier this season.
Marblehead improved to 9-0 in the Northeastern Conference and 12-1 overall, the only blemish, a non-conference loss at home to Andover last month.
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The Headers got out of the gate fast, Ashley Noyes ripped Kelsey O’Brien at first singles 6-0, 6-0. Noyes improves to 8-0 on the season, while O’Brien falls to 5-8.
Megan Stanojev and Meghan Gabel made short work of Swampscott’s Alicia Coyle and Ashley Petras, shutting out the Big Blue duo 6-0, 6-0. Stanojev and Gabel moved to 7-0 on the season, Coyle and Petras fell to 3-2.
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Swampscott (11-3 overall, 7-2 in NEC) got on the board when Rita Tsokanis remained unbeaten on the season, improving to 13-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Julia Burke (6-5) at second singles.
Marblehead clinched the match at third singles when Mary Lindsay Ryan took out Swampscott’s Tatum Pederson 6-2, 6-3. Ryan upped her mark on the season to 7-4, Pederson dropped to 9-4.
“We’re fortunate to have a player like Rita on our team,” first year Swampscott coach Nina Rogers said. “She’s been incredibly consistent for us all year.”
“The girls played really well today,” Marblehead coach Tim Stonecipher said after the matches. “Swampscott’s always tough and you’ve got to play your best to beat them, and we played very well today.”
The Headers capped off the afternoon winning first doubles in the closest matches of the day. Annie Ryan and Lindsey Cohen beat Franny Pelletier and Shannon Toner, 6-4, 6-4. For the Marblehead pair, they remain undefeated on the season at 11-0, while the loss is the first of the year for Toner and Pelletier; they fell to 10-1 with the loss.
Very busy days ahead for Marblehead; they have a doubleheader on Tuesday at home against Beverly and Gloucester, then head to Beverly on Wednesday, for the second match in two days against the Panthers.
Swampscott travels to Danvers on Tuesday afternoon, and takes on Manchester-Essex on Friday.
