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The regular season is over, and the Winchester High girls tennis team went through it unscathed with a 19-0 record. The Red & Black now enter the Division 1 state tournament as the second seed, only Newton South (13-1) is ahead of them in the power rankings.
A total of 38 teams made the postseason in this division.
Newton South (13-1), Winchester (19-0), Boston Latin (14-1), Westford Academy (13-2), Lexington (16-2), Needham (15-0), Acton-Boxborough (10-4), Wellesley (15-3), Belmont (11-7) and Arlington (13-7) are your Top 10 2026 teams.
Coach Greg Lowder’s team won’t have to go far to begin the postseason. They will be in Stoneham to play Brookline (3-14), the 31st seed, in a Round of 32 matchup on Friday, May 29, starting at 3 p.m. The Warriors edged Taunton (13-8), the 34th seed, in the preliminary round on May 27, 3-2.
There are certainly no issues emanating from the Winchester sidelines after what the team has already accomplished to date.
“We had a great regular season, (but) as with every other season, all of our players have contributed to the team’s overall success,” said Lowder. “Everybody got into at least two matches this spring, so it was a full team effort.”
Lowder also praised the team on its focus in every match.
“(They) realize that (they) could lose on any given day, and at this point of the season, a loss means (it’s over),” added the veteran Winchester coach. “They take it seriously, and yet still have fun with each other. I don’t think there’s any more pressure (on them) as the second seed. Other teams will always want to beat us, just as we want to beat them, and so we just have to be ready.”
With the help of his assistant coach Deb Simpson, Lowder has also been telling the girls to just make good decisions out there, while “putting more balls in play.” He then went on to say, “we remind them when it’s time to go on offense and when they have to be more defensive.”
Their last four matches of the regular season were all 5-0 shutouts against Woburn (May 13), Belmont (May 18), Reading (May 19) and non-league Marblehead at Beverly (May 20).
Against Belmont, Daryana Skobeleva shutout Isha Appadwedula, 6-0, 6-0 in first singles. Andrea Bilic defeated Armela Mahadi in a second singles tiebreaker, 6-0, 3-6 (10-6). Olivia Thompson took care of Jackie Roy in third singles, 6-1, 6-0.
The first doubles team of Kate Sheehan and Mia Lock shutdown Avery Cai and Kate Polina, 6-0, 6-0. Laura Jiang and Esha Bhalla won in straight sets over Elly Ishii and Malina Loretan, 6-1, 6-1.
In the match against Reading, Skobeleva (6-1, 6-0), Bilic (6-4, 6-0) and Thompson (3-6, 7-5, 10-7) swept through singles play, while Ava Navarra and Celine Pierce (6-2, 6-1, first doubles) and Collette Soto and Sheehan (6-0, 6-1, second doubles) maintained the dominating trend in doubles.
Skobeleva (6-1, 6-0), Bilic (6-3, 6-0) and Thompson (7-5, 6-1) are heading into Friday’s encounter with Brookline on a roll after securing three more singles victories during the regular season finale in Beverly against the Magicians.
Kaiyal Kumaran and Bhalla then teamed up in first doubles to beat Marblehead’s Caroline Bruett and Joy Meshulam, 6-0, 6-1. Sheehan and Lock experienced similar results in second doubles, 6-1, 6-0.
Building a championship team is a process, and with four seniors among Winchester’s seven starters, the team appears to be ready to take that next step. Last year, as the eighth seed, they were eliminated by Wellesley in the state semifinals.
Two of the remaining starters are juniors to go along with one freshman. But to win a championship, it requires contributions from everybody on the roster.
“When I look at the depth on the team outside of the starters, over half of it is made up of freshmen and sophomores,” said Lowder. “This has been a really unique experience as a team, but we still have a long way to go.”
To be precise, it’s five matches to go for a state title, starting with Friday’s (May 29) Round of 32 encounter against Brookline at Stoneham High School. It all begins again at 3 p.m.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
