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The Winchester High girls tennis team, the second seed in Division 1, is now 20-0 after shutting out Brookline (2-15, 31st seed), a Bay State Conference team, 5-0 to open up its state tournament season in the Round of 32 at Stoneham on May 29.
The Warriors defeated Taunton (13-8), 34th seed, 3-2 in a preliminary round matchup on May 27.
Coach Greg Lowder is constantly amazed by the proficiency of his squad after all of its matches, and this one was no different.
“I was thoroughly impressed,” said Lowder after the Brookline match. “Brookline is a tough team, and is only the 31st seed, because it’s in such a strong league. They’re far stronger than a typical first round opponent. We really came to play, which is all on the girls. They never showed the least little bit of fear. They continue to amaze me day after day.”
The Winchester High School girls tennis team took on Brookline on May 27, winning the match. The team is now 20-0 in the postseason. WINCHESTER NEWS STAFF PHOTO/PETER CASEY
The Winchester girls won all of the matches in straight sets. Daryana Skobeleva took care of Cassandra Olszewski in first singles, 6-1, 6-0. Second singles player Andrea Bilic experienced similar results against May Gardner. Olivia Thompson maintained the dominating trend after beating Ellen Kirakosyan in third singles, 6-0, 6-1.
The first doubles team of Esha Bhalla and Kaiyal Kumaran topped Nina Ghael and Talia Chin, 6-1, 6-4. Cate Sheehan and Mia Lock made it a clean sweep with a second doubles victory over Molly Bochell and Hallie Schneider, 6-0, 6-1.
The Red & Black has a couple of days off to relish the first tournament win, before taking on Natick (11-6), the 15th seed, in the Round of 16 on Monday, June 1, at Arlington’s Wellington Tennis Courts, starting at 4 p.m. The Red Hawks defeated Central Catholic (10-3), the 18th seed, in their Round of 32 matchup, 5-0 on May 27.
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.
