Click HERE for a full photo gallery of the Foxboro girls match.
By Ryan Lanigan, Editor-in-Chief
NEWTON, Mass. - The second time wasn’t the charm for either the Sharon boys or Foxboro girls tennis teams in the D2 EMass Finals.
Sharon fell 3-2 to Wayland, who started its current streak of four straight D2 State Championships with win over the Eagles in 2012 by the same score.
Foxboro fell Concord-Carlisle for the season straight year, this time 4-1, as the Patriots also won their fourth straight state title.
“They’re a great team,” Foxboro head coach Alan Lightbody said of Concord-Carlisle. “It’s their fourth year in a row as state champions. We just have to keep working harder next season but I’m totally proud of the way the girls played all years long and the way they present themselves on and off the court. We’re proud to be associated with Foxboro.”
Concord-Carisle jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, taking both first doubles and second doubles in straight sets. Foxboro’s Diana Prinos and Sophia Prinos each took a 2-1 lead in both first singles and second singles respectively while sophomore Lexi Nelson took a 3-0 lead.
Diana Prinos went on to win 6-2, 6-1 in first singles, avenging a loss to the Patriots in last year’s state title match. Sophia Prinos fell to Maggie Dorr, 6-3, 6-4 while Nelson suffered her first career loss in dual matches with a 6-2, 4-6, 10-12 loss.
“That was a great match for her,” Lightbody said of Diana Prinos as first singles. “She’s come on strong in the second set every match through the playoffs. Winning a close first set and then getting in a rhythm and then really coming through in the second set with her strength and her power.”
Both Prinos sisters and Nelson will be back next season, giving Foxboro hope it can make a third straight appearance in the state finals.
“I think so,” Lightbody said of being able to get back. “I know they work hard all year wrong, it’s not a seasonal sport for the three singles players, they play USTA events all year long as most of the teams that get to this level do. I think they’re going to be more determined next year. it’s a little discouraging right now but I couldn’t be more proud these girls.”
On the boys side, it was Sharon that struck first. The first doubles team of Grant Barron and Adam Dobbin quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, picking up a 6-1, 6-2 win. The lead wouldn’t last long though when Wayland’s Charlie Sharton won 6-0, 6-1 at second singles over Sharon’s Griffin Fein and quickly after took the lead when freshman Jaylen Huang won 6-2, 6-1 at third singles for Sharon’s Fred Bondar.
The Warriors then clinched the title when Will Sharton, ranked 2nd in New England by the USTA, won 6-1, 6-1 over Hockomock League MVP Peter Hu. Sharon’s second doubles team of Alex Romantic and Han Cui closed it out with a win for the Eagles with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
“It’s amazing to get this far, it’s incredible,” Sharon head coach Joan Cutter said. “They’ve worked so hard. Practices never end, they want to go two and a half hours. They just keep hitting and practicing. They did a lot of preseason, they rented courts and they worked really hard.”
Sharon will lose Hu and Barron to graduation but will bring back the other five players next season, which could mean the Eagles will also be back in the same spot a year from now.
Click HERE for a full photo gallery of the Sharon boys match.
Click HERE for a full photo gallery of the Foxboro girls match.