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04/12/2023 08:02 AMWinning a state title places an automatic target on a team’s back heading into the following season. The Guilford girls’ tennis team is no exception to that, as they head into the spring with a focus on bringing back the state championship hardware they won a year ago.
Head Coach Chris Marra and the Grizzlies sport a roster full of leaders, hard workers, and athletes determined to keep the winning culture rolling.
While relying on strong leadership to guide the Grizzlies to prominence, it starts with the three captains: Riley Mullett (senior), Kallie Kagan (junior), and Gabby Kellner (junior). Each of these three girls has different qualities they bring to the table for their squad.
“I think part of what makes them good captains is that they have been captains for the last couple of years; they were captains last year as well. They have a lot of experience, and we have a large team,” said Marra. “Having them working together definitely helps giving them each different roles in terms of leadership. Riley is definitely more of an on-court leader, Kallie is a great organizer, and Gabby is sort of like the team mom almost, helping players and giving good advice.”
The Grizzlies won the Class L State Championship title in 2022 and were the runner-up for the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Championship. While building on that success, Marra hopes for his team to focus on growth and development as this campaign progresses rather than each individual game.
“We try to look at it like every season is a new chapter. It is just a brand-new season, and we want to try to do our best, play as well as we can. That was really our goal last year, to not necessarily win one match or two matches or win states,” said Marra. “It was just about focusing on improvement and being the best team that we can be; that is kind of how we are looking at it this season again.”
The Grizzlies return most of last year’s players to the fold after only graduating two seniors. The singles lineup this season consists of Mullett, Kagan, Caroline Hergan (sophomore), and Molly Peterson (junior).
For doubles, the top eight out of 16 players compete. Those athletes are Sophie Gochman-Nadolna (sophomore), Izzy Bowman (senior), Kate DeAngelo (senior), Kellner, Alexie Gipson (junior), Mia Hardy (sophomore), Thitida Khambounhounag (sophomore), and Peyton Lynch (sophomore).
“They all played varsity last year to a varying degree; some played more than others,” said Marra. “The starting returners are Sophie, Izzy, Gabby, Alexie, and Kate.”
Although the Grizzlies made it all the way to the SCC Championship last year, Marra is uncertain at the moment about how his team will stack up with the rest of the conference this year.
“I do not know what the rest of the teams look like; we do not know how each team lays out in terms of their returning players. It is always a competitive conference,” said Marra. “Amity is still awesome, and they are probably going to be the best team in the conference even though they graduated a few players. Everyone else will give us challenges. Cheshire will be good; Hand, North Haven, and Lauralton are always a challenge.”
To open the season, the Grizzlies faced Lauralton Hall at home on April 3, walking away with a 7-0 win. Some key contributors for this match were Mullet, Kagan, Hergan, and Peterson for singles. For doubles, Bowman/Gochman (6-0, 6-0), Gipson/Kellner (6-0, 6-3), and DeAngelo/Hardy (6-1. 6-0) helped contribute to the victory.
“The team got off to a really solid start. Everyone played well top to bottom,” said Marra. “We have a very deep team and their hard work in the offseason began to show right away.”
The following day on April 4, Guilford faced the North Haven Nighthawks at home, winning 6-1.
A few top contributors were Mullet (6-4, 4-6,10-6), Kagan (6-0, 6-2), Hergan (6-2, 6-1), and Peterson (6-1, 6-1) for singles. On the doubles side, Bowman/Gochman (6-2, 6-2), Gipson/Kellner (6-1, 6-1), and DeAngelo/Hardy (6-0, 6-1) all worked together to bring the Grizzlies to a 2-0 record.
“North Haven has always been a tough opponent. We played very consistently in singles. Riley had a very close match against one of the better players in the league and was very close to beating her,” said Marra. “Our doubles teams played very well. Sophie and Izzy faced a tough team and really controlled play and pulled away.”
As the Grizzlies continue to navigate through the season, Marra wants to see constant improvement from his athletes and hopes each individual can grow along the way.
“I am really looking forward to seeing how good we can be. I think that’s what we are looking for, especially the year after you win states, and you want to really focus on succeeding,” Marra said. “I think we are looking at success more in terms of how well the team feels for everybody. If the team feels really good about being on the team and they feel that team camaraderie and everything else, then the other piece is just improving on how we played last year. You can improve and still lose to teams. I think that is our goal, looking forward to improving and being the best that we can be; we accomplished that a lot last year.”
Marra has been with the team since 2012 and is assisted by Melissa Page.
The Grizzlies roster includes Clara Arpie (sophomore), Alexandra Bobrow (junior), Bowman, Luciana Brechlin (sophomore), Hannah Brown (freshman), Julia Castonguay (sophomore), Sabrina Chung (freshman), Makenna Clark (freshman), Olivia Cowperthwait (sophomore), DeAngelo, Irene Esplungues (junior), Katherine Gasparini (freshman), Gipson, Gochman, Hargy, Hergan, Kagan, Kellner, Juliette Kellner (freshman), Khambounhounag, Lynch, Mullett, Sienna Pagano (freshman), Peterson, Katera Prohaski (senior), Ava Scandone (junior), Breann Shelton (freshman), and Veronica Zuniga (sophomore).
Grizzlies Girls Tennis 2023 Schedule
Monday April 3: vs Lauralton Hall at 3:45 p.m.
Tuesday April 4: vs North Haven at 3:45 p.m.
Thursday April 6: vs Fitch at 4 p.m.
Monday April 10: vs Cheshire at 1 p.m.
Tuesday April 11: vs Waterford at 1:30 p.m.
Thursday April 13: vs Amity at 12 p.m.
Monday April 17: vs Jonathan Law at 3:45 p.m.
Tuesday April 18: vs Branford at 3:45 p.m.
Thursday April 20: vs Mercy at 3:45 p.m.
Monday April 24: vs Sheehan at 3:45 p.m.
Tuesday April 25: vs Shelton at 3:45 p.m.
Thursday April 27: vs Sacred Heart Academy at 3:45 p.m.
Monday May 1: vs Lauralton Hall at 3:45 p.m.
Thursday May 4: vs North Haven at 3:45 p.m.
Monday May 8: vs Cheshire at 3:45 p.m.
Wednesday May 10: vs Daniel Hand at 3:45 p.m.
Thursday May 11: vs Amity at 3:45 p.m.
Tuesday May 16: vs Stonington at 4 p.m.
Wednesday May 17: vs Nonnewaug at 4 p.m.
Thursday May 18: vs Daniel Hand at 3:45 p.m.