Co-Captain Camille Price ’15 swept her second seed singles flight without losing a game during her five matches at the de Villafranca Invitational Tennis Tournament at Kent on Saturday.
Andover Girls Tennis also had top finishes in two other flights to take home the overall Championship. Reagan Posorske ’17 claimed runner up in her first seed singles division, and Co-Captain Isabella Haegg ’16 and Sewon Park ’17 combined their efforts to snag the title in the doubles tournament.
Price said, “I was really determined to boost my performance at this particular tournament. ”
After shutting out her Westminster, Hotchkiss and Taft opponents in the round robin round, Price proceeded to seize decisive 6-0, 6-0 victories against Phillips Exeter Academy and Kingswood Oxford in the semifinals and finals, respectively. Price quickly established her dominance in her finals match, closing out the first set within 15 minutes.
Haegg and Park grinded out wins against Loomis Chaffee, Taft and Exeter in the round robin before going on to snag 11 straight games in their semifinal match against Kingswood Oxford. They then earned impressive 6-0, 6-4 sets in their finals match against Hotchkiss.
Park said, “[Haegg] and I haven’t been playing doubles together for that long, and even though we haven’t lost throughout the season – besides Milton – we have never been satisfied at the end. But in the semi finals, everything finally clicked.”
Park said, “In the finals, we were both energetic and confident from the last match.”
After clinching victories against Hotchkiss, Taft and Exeter in the round robin, Posorske faced particularly challenging opponents in her last two matches of the tournament.In the semifinals, Posorske found herself facing the same Kingswood Oxford opponent to whom she had lost last year, and her opponent in the finals was a top ten nationally ranked senior and Stanford tennis recruit. By avenging her previous loss and winning a few games in her finals match, Posorske proved her capability and high level of skill. The loss did not count toward her overall Andover record, for the de Villafranca Invitational does not count as Andover’s regular season.
“I went in with the attitude that I had nothing to lose,” said Posorske. “After that win in the semifinals, I didn’t even expect to take a game against my opponent in the finals, but a lot of the games went to deuce, and I was able to break her serve. It was such an incredible opportunity to play someone at such a high level.”
Andover’s tournament success carried into its match against Thayer on Wednesday, when it secured its eighth sweep of the season to bring its record to 10-1.
First seed Posorske sealed a 6-1, 6-2 victory against a top-ranked United States Tennis Association (USTA) player in New England. Price earned a 6-3, 6-0 win at second seed. Park, Andover’s fourth seed, did not play because her opponent was late to the match. At the bottom of the ladder, in the absence of fifth seed Lara Danovitch ’16, Lauren Lee ’18 stepped up to fifth, and doubles player Charlotte Welch ’18 took the sixth seed singles match. Both trumped their opponents with decisive scores of 6-1, 6-2.
Haegg said, “I’m super proud of [Lee] for stepping up on the ladder and dominating her match and of [Welch] for adpating quickly to play singles and win decisively.”
Andover glided smoothly to three decisive wins in doubles. First seeds Posorske and Price finished 8-1, second seeds Haegg and Park executed an 8-3 victory and third seeds Madeline Mayhew ’15 and Welch dominated 8-0.
“[Park] had very deep and strong ground strokes that set me up for some nice volley opportunities,” said Haegg. “She also did a good job of deflecting hard shots that were hit at her.”
On Saturday, Andover looks to avenge its previous losses to Milton in the long-awaited New England Prep School Association Conference (NEPSAC) Team Championships.
Editor’s Note: Isabella Haegg ’16 is a Sports Editor for The Phillipian.
