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Last year, the Winchester High girls tennis team (17-4, eighth seed) defeated Boston Latin in the Elite 8, 3-2, only to lose to Wellesley in the Division 1 state semifinals, 4-1.
The Red & Black are once again scheduled to face the Wolfpack, but this time in the Final Four as the second seed with an undefeated record of 22-0. To get there, Winchester defeated Acton-Boxborough in an Elite 8 matchup at Stoneham High School on June 4, 4-1.
Boston Latin (17-1, third seed) shutout Needham (17-1, sixth seed), 5-0 in its Elite 8 match, also on June 4, to secure the rematch with the Winchester girls.
Coach Greg Lowder said that he had no idea what to expect this year after graduating “a couple of awesome starters in Avery Machemer and Sophie Kim.” He knew replacing them would be tough, but credits the overall talent in the program for even better results this year.
“I think we always have incredible depth, and as a result our team goes well beyond the starting seven,” Lowder explained. “Replacing key players is always difficult, but we continue to have so many girls working hard every (year) to take advantage of whatever opportunity pops up, (which helps us succeed as a team).”
The match against Acton-Boxborough was delayed by an hour, because the Revolution was caught in traffic. It finally got underway at 6 p.m.
“We were supposed to start at 5 p.m., but (Acton-Boxborough) didn’t get there early enough, so we didn’t start until about 6 p.m.,” said Lowder. “Thankfully, the heat of the day wasn’t too much of a factor at that point. While we waited, we hung out in the shade, and had a lot of laughs to keep things loose. These girls are great like that.”
But once the match began, the veteran Winchester coach was not surprised on how competitive it was throughout.
“(Acton-Boxborough) is a really solid team from top to bottom,” added Lowder. “I think that’s the first time we’ve played them since I’ve been coaching (here). It was a great battle, and my kids really stepped it up to beat them. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
First singles player Daryana Skobeleva got it going by beating Ananya Rao in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Andrea Bilic defeated Mira Moghe by the exact same score in second singles. Olivia Thompson, however, lost to Stella Huang-Logan in a competitive third singles match, 6-3, 5-3, 10-5.
The first doubles team of Esha Bhalla and Kaiyal Kumaran topped Iniya Venkat and Hansika Maram, 6-3, 6-2. Mia Lock and Cate Sheehan took care of Jasmine Wang and Nia Masurashvili in second doubles, 6-2, 6-2.
As of June 5, the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) has yet to firm up a time or venue for the state semifinal match against Boston Latin. Lowder says that he heard it could tentatively start up next week, either on June 9 or 10.
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.
