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06/16/2013 12:00 AMAt the beginning of the spring, Valley girls’ tennis Coach Gary Ribchinsky had the daunting task of putting together a roster that had five holes to fill after last year’s graduating core of seniors. But, as always, Ribchinsky and the Warriors pulled it together for the 2013 season and posted a 14-4 campaign that saw them reach the Class S quarterfinals and see all their starting players make the All-Shoreline team.
“The kids raised the bar and then some,” said Ribchinsky. “It was daily that I saw improvement this year and the challenge of their new spots brought lots of excitement and large doses of determination.”
Sophomore Abby Wolff led at the No. 1 singles position this year, earning the third seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament and making it to the semifinal around while making it to the second round of the Class S State Tournament and earning the MVP Award, First Team All-Shoreline honors, and All-Shoreline Scholar Athlete.
“Abby continued to grow in her position and she played all the tough Conference players very tight and at times I thought she was going to take over,” said Ribchinsky of Wolff, who also qualified for the State Open. “She has a terrific future, showing dominance, poise, and accuracy that I know she will continue to expand.”
A doubles player last year, senior captain Taylor Riggio-McGrath (Warrior Award) “matured as a captain” according to Ribchinsky, and earned Honorable Mention All-Shoreline honors, while junior (and next year’s captain) Jacqueline Stevens manned the No. 3 singles spot and was named Second Team All-Shoreline.
“Jacqueline grew yet another great season in leaps and bounds,” said Ribchinsky of his future leader who earned the Most Improved Award. “She was a good inspiration to the younger players, especially demonstrating strong, accurate strokes and wonderful spirit.”
Freshman Hannah Halsey (Rookie of the Year Award) played a 17-1 season at No. 4 singles, filling in on the upper ladder as well and earning some important victories while earning Second Team All-Shoreline honors.
“Hannah’s dedication is terrific and will be a tough player to beat next year,” said Ribchinsky.
Senior Sarah Burzin (Coach’s Award) and junior (and 2014 captain) Lexie Riggio-McGrath (Spirit Award) combined at doubles for a 10-4 record, finishing the season as Shoreline finalists in doubles while also qualifying for the State Open and playing to the second round in that competition while also being named First Team All-Shoreline players and All-Shoreline Scholar Athletes.
“These two played spirited, fun matches,” said Ribchinsky. “Whether it was winning or losing their matches, they were always all-out complete battles.”
Also dominating in doubles was senior Megan Farley and junior Hannah Van BenSchoten—the latter of whom will be a 2014 tri-captain—who finished the last two years together with a 38-2 record which earned them Second Team All-Shoreline recognition and State Open qualification.
“Hannah and Megan take everything they do very seriously and are wonderful students and tennis players,” said Ribchinsky.
Rounding out the doubles competition are seniors Jaclyn Marino and Helen Kilby who combined for a 13-1 campaign, “developing a wonderful, hard-hitting accurate volley game” that earned them Honorable Mention All-Shoreline honors.
Also earning playing time this spring were freshmen Maggie Klin and Caitlin Farley (Most Improved Award).
“The season was a tremendous amount of fun for everyone who enjoyed the tennis and learned new skills each and every day,” said Ribchinsky, whose squad graduates seven seniors. “The younger team is confident and will step up into new roles next year as well as the others will continue to grow and thrive with their experience. We had our opportunities this year and lost some extremely close matches. I am mostly proud of the team for continuing to bounce back day to day. Some weeks we had five matches and the players had to dig deep to pull off the 14-4 record as well as gain momentum into the postseason.”
As an added note, Burzin will join a fraternity of Valley players that have stepped up to play college tennis as she will play for University of New Haven.
“It’s exciting to see these athletes, some even starting as beginners, become very schooled players,” adds Ribchinsky. “I’m always excited that they can play this game for a lifetime and they remember the friendships and fun they had in their high school experience. We win some and lose some, but it’s these experiences that the girls remember for life.”