Girls Tennis posing for a team picture after winning the NEPSAC championship.
This past weekend, Girls Tennis faced off against New England’s strongest teams– Groton, Nobles, and Greenwich Academy. Despite the vast competition, the team secured its place as the 2025 New England Preparatory School Athletic Council(NEPSAC) Champions.
Nitya Madduri ’28 explained how the team’s mental and physical work had translated into the way that they played at the championship. Whether the team has worked on finishing points early by taking control of the net or worked on team chemistry throughout the season, Madduri believes that each aspect the team has worked on translated well into the tournament.
“I think it really translated quite well. You definitely see from the sidelines the cheering and across the courts the cheering. And I think we carried out a lot of our doubles plays which we’ve been practicing a lot,” said Madduri.
Despite the team’s vast preparation, Mercan Draman ’26 outlined the stress of going into a pressurized environment like the NEPSAC championships. However, knowing how everyone was nervous, every player continued to support one another.
“We were all very stressed because it is something we’ve been working towards the entire season, but we were also very supportive of one another, we all trusted each other and we trusted that we could do this,” said Draman.
Co-Captain, Lena Ciganer-Albeniz ’25 highlighted the conditions that played into the team’s success, especially on the second day of the championship. Despite the tiring circumstances of having to play back-to-back doubles, Ciganer-Albeniz looked towards the bright side of the weekend, pointing out the immense support and the home advantage Girls Tennis had over Greenwich.
“Sunday, obviously we were gassed from Saturday having quarters and semis on the same day. It’s already very demanding to play a doubles and singles match in one day and we did that twice in one day, so we were obviously very tired going into Sunday and sore. It really helped having all the blue key heads there on Sunday and other supporters as well. It really brought the energy up and I think that’s what pushed us through mentally. In terms of the physical aspect, we had a slight advantage because Greenwich had to travel all the way from Greenwich,” said Ciganer-Albeniz.
Draman highlighted the efforts of Lara Madan ’27 whose hard work throughout the season translated into her perseverance during the championship.
“During her singles match, she lost the first set by a huge mark, I think it was like 6-1, I’m not sure. Then she ended up coming back and winning in the second set and then she was going head to head in the tie break, and she ended up losing like 13-11 which is really close. Usually a tie break ends at 10 so they had to go over like 3 or 4 points. So even though she lost the first set by so much she didn’t give up and she fought till the end,” said Draman.
According to Ciganer-Albeniz, the championship signaled an end to many Senior’s careers and the win had allowed them clarity, a positive note to a bittersweet moment. Ciganer-Albeniz recalled the immediate moments after co-captain Amy Oku ’25 secured the win.
“When she won, at first, I couldn’t believe it and everyone, we all went to huddle and cheer, everybody was in tears and it was so amazing. The first thing that the three seniors told each other was that we can finally quit but not because we necessarily hate the sport, but playing tennis in college is really hard and we’re all ready to end this chapter in our lives and so it was really special to be able to finish in such an amazing way because this was our goal from the very beginning of the season,” said Ciganer-Albeniz.
Girls Tennis will face Exeter on Wednesday.
